Pence and Pompeo lead growing Republican group looking past Trump to 2024 – By Kerry Picket (Washington Examiner) / Jan 2 2020
The 2024 Republican nomination will be wide open, whether President Trump wins reelection next year or not. And several high-profile Republicans are already angling to succeed him.
A bit under five years from now, Trump will either be finishing up his second term, won in 2020, or an ex-president, having lost to the Democratic nominee that year. A natural successor for Trump, 73, would be his vice president, Mike Pence, who has dutifully stayed in the shadows for nearly three years in office behind his considerably more brash and flamboyant boss.
Pence, 60, a former Indiana governor and congressman, has a natural advantage heading into 2024 — his daily working relationship with Trump, whom more than 90% of Republicans support.
But Pence, a cautious career politician, has none of Trump’s bravado and bluster, which makes the president so endearing to supporters. And vice presidents have trouble directly succeeding the presidents they served. It’s only been done twice, by Vice Presidents Martin Van Buren, in 1836, and George H.W. Bush, in 1988. Several others in recent decades have tried but come up short, including Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and Al Gore in 2000.
Pence has largely, though not entirely, avoided getting embroiled in Trump administration scandals, such as the Ukraine military aid affair that led to the president’s impeachment on Dec. 18. Yet, he would hardly have a free ride to the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, 47, also is considered high on the list. Following the former South Carolina governor’s sudden exit from her diplomatic post at the end of 2018, she’s been subject to rising speculation over her political plans.
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