Two words for Trump haters: President Pence

This appeared in the News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.):

Please stop trying to find ways to impeach President Trump, pleads Bob Hepburn of the Toronto Star: “As bad as Trump is, the United States could actually be in worse shape in the future if Mike Pence, his seemingly benign vice president, replaces him in the Oval Office. Indeed, Pence could well turn out to be a complete disaster as president for liberal-minded Americans. In sharp contrast to Trump, the former Indiana governor is a serious politician with extremist policy views that liberals seriously don’t like.”

Of course, those of us on the political right might put it a different way: “Go ahead and get rid of Donald Trump if you can. Then you’ll get the president who will really drive you around the bend, and we’ll get more of our conservative agenda passed.”

As controversy swirls around the White House, Pence has seemed to walk a tightrope. One the one hand, he needs to be seen as enthusiastically supporting the president and his agenda. On the other hand, he has to be somewhat above the fray.

“At the height of the controversies enveloping his boss,” USA Today reports, “the vice president is even building his own political war chest, creating a political action committee to support congressional candidates, which will enhance his already-strong popularity among Republicans.

The good news is that Pence is up to the task of staying focused and unconsumed by the crises of the day. Whenever it’s his turn to step up, he will be ready. Odds are, it will be in 2020 or 2024.

Democrats right now have one of the shallowest political benches in political history. They’d better start developing some talent with presidential qualities or Republicans might actually hang around leadership roles long enough to get something done.