The talk of the town yesterday in Tirana, Albania, the nation’s capital, was Pence instead of Trump for President.
Pence is there to support the MEK militia, which seeks to undermine the Iranian government and has its headquarters in Albania. Opinions vary about MEK’s work and whether the U.S. should support it, but for what it’s worth, former Democratic senator and VP nominee Joe Lieberman is also pro-MEK.
At any rate, my husband (an editor at the National Review, and I got to talking about the 2024 presidential election and the unappealing prospects on both sides. In particular, which Republican would be worse for the nation, Trump or Pence?
I said: while Trump would be scary and explosive, Pence would be a long-term disaster. He would be able to build a consensus in an FDR-like sweep of the presidency, only this time it would be far-right instead of center-left, commanding not only the support of the all-non-Protestant Supreme Court but control of the House and Senate yet again. Trump could never swing that much power now, as controversial as he has become.
He said: Pence counted the electoral votes honestly, and that alone makes him a far better man than Trump is capable of being. Enough said.
Ruth Frick O'Brien 