Riding the coattails of the successful is a key concept of politics but you would think that devout Christian Mike Pence would have realized that riding Satan’s coattails is a short ride to nowhere. Clearly he did not figure that out in the past five years, but a look at his standing in the CPAC straw poll taken this weekend to assess various Republicans’ chances for the 2024 presidential nomination tell a tale of political death. Mike Pence finished dead last, at 1%.
Orlando Sentinel: “[I]n a straw poll of CPAC attendees revealed just before Trump’s address, just 68% said they wanted Trump to run again in 2024, a smaller number than expected considering his 97% job approval among participants. The other 32% either said he shouldn’t run or had no opinion.
“In a separate poll of potential 2024 GOP nominees for president, Trump was the choice of 55% of attendees. Gov. Ron DeSantis came in second at 21%, with all other candidates in single digits. With Trump out of the mix, however, DeSantis was first with 43%. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem came in second with 11%; Donald Trump Jr. got 8% for third.”
Notably, former VP MIKE PENCE received only 1%, behind not only DeSantis, Noem and Don Jr., but Mike Pompeo (7%), Ted Cruz (7%), Tucker Carlson (3%), Josh Hawley (3%), Nikki Haley (3%), Ivanka Trump (3%) and Rand Paul (2%).
Admittedly, a straw poll is a straw poll. The New York Times reports “The CPAC straw polls have not proved particularly predictive of future presidential nominees. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky won three in a row in the run-up to the 2016 primary, which he quit after a poor showing in one contest — the Iowa caucuses. Senator Mitt Romney of Utah won four CPAC straw polls (in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2012) but now is a figure whose name drew boos and derision as one of Mr. Trump’s fiercest Republican critics.”
Still and all, to go from the number two spot on the ticket to finishing dead last, behind Tucker Carlson, Ted Cruz, Ivanka Trump and even Rand Paul, who don’t have the proverbial snowball’s chance, has got to be sobering for Mike Pence. There’s no coming back from this. The people at CPAC are the most rabid of the rabids and if their enthusiasm level for Pence barely registers as a heartbeat, seriously, what future in politics does the man have?
He escaped the literal gallows the day Donald Trump fed him to the mob, but Pence is dead.
Go check out office space on K Street, Mike. Lobbying is what’s left. Or, do a Michael Cohen turn and write a tell-all. Those are your options.
Maybe they should run a robot dog. U get the robot & a mechanical dog at the same time. All the same features trumpets love, i.e., stupid obedience & mindless wandering. More durable than the Qtip known as baby pence.
It would have to be programmed to act like a dog (and/or the Trompador) and hump the flag