With questions about President Trump’s future in the White House all the rage in DC this week, whispers of impeachment and Vice President Mike Pence ascending to Chief Executive have become audible on the right.
And now Bloomberg is reporting that Pence has formed a leadership PAC which is being seen by some as a potential gear-up to raise money either to campaign for Republicans in 2018 and/or as a fallback plan for 2020 should Trump not be around to run for reelection.
Either way, it’s a signal that Trump’s present toxicity with much of the electorate can no longer be ignored.
Here’s more from Bloomberg…
While President Donald Trump’s White House grapples with the fallout from his firing of the former FBI director, Vice President Mike Pence has taken steps to begin building his own political war chest.
Pence launched Great America Committee, a leadership PAC, a move that will enable him to channel money to congressional Republicans ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. The political action committee’s registration was posted Wednesday on the Federal Election Commission website.
“The Vice President is playing a leading role in passing legislation on the Hill,” said Nick Ayers, a senior adviser to Pence in the 2016 campaign who will be running the PAC. “He wants to support House and Senate members who are helping pass the president’s agenda.”
It’s unusual for vice presidents to set up their own fundraising vehicles. Neither Joseph Biden nor Dick Cheney, the two vice presidents who preceded Pence, had one while in office. It’s not entirely unprecedented, though: George H.W. Bush formed the Fund for America’s Future when he was preparing for his 1988 presidential run.
“Launching a leadership PAC sometimes signals an intent to run for higher office, which in Pence’s case, has been a topic of public interest ever since he was first nominated,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsible Politics, which studies money in politics.
