Views & Opinions: Pence had his chance to take on Trump — he already missed it

View Online  Views & Opinions Views & Opinions One Key Op-ed  Mike Pence's pointless candidacy Mike Pence has launched a pointless bid for the White House, writes political strategist Keith Naughton. "His candidacy reveals more about the Republican Party and its weak leadership than anything about the ex-vice president."   Pence once had an opening, but it was long ago. © AP "In the aftermath of Trump's second impeachment and the downturn in his favorability among Republicans, Pence was better placed than any other Republican to become the alternative to Trump for 2024."   But at that critical point, writes Naughton, "Pence was too cowed to enter into combat against the man who stabbed him in the back. When the heat was turned up, Pence wilted."   The result: "Pence has no constituency and nothing to say. He is running on fumes."   And while Pence was playing a "more vacillating version of Hamlet," he was passed by better Republican alternatives to Trump, namely Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley.   Ultimately, writes Naughton, "Jan. 6 might not be the most humiliating deed Trump does to his erstwhile loyal vice president."   Read the op-ed at TheHill.com. Welcome to The Hill's Views & Opinions newsletter, it's Tuesday, June 6. I'm Daniel Allott, bringing together a collection of key opinion pieces published from a wide range of voices. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Other Points of View  Op-eds exploring key issues affecting the U.S. and world: Ron DeSantis is the greatest threat ever...until the next guy By Becket Adams, program director for the National Journalism Center The new guy will always be worse than the last guy, regardless of what the new guy believes or supports. And nowhere is this cliché more obvious than in the political commentary surrounding the rise of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), including his entry last week into the 2024 Republican presidential primary.  Read Here Could NASA and SpaceX mount a joint mission to Mars? By Mark R. Whittington, author of "Why is it So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?" Both SpaceX and NASA are developing two initiatives that, if put together, would make for a pretty robust mission to Mars. The SpaceX Starship could move 180 metric tons to the Martian surface. If the Starship is combined with a nuclear engine, it could do so in a matter of weeks and not the months that a conventional rocket would require.  Read Here Is Kevin McCarthy just really that good at his job?  By Mick Mulvaney, former U.S. congressman The left could be correct. Maybe they were just premature in all of their predictions of McCarthy's imminent demise. Maybe they will be proven right in the long run. There is another possibility, however: McCarthy might just be pretty good at his job.  Read Here A ceasefire in Ukraine is in America's interest By Brahma Chellaney, geostrategist and author The longer the Ukraine war continues to distract the United States from the growing challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, the greater the risk of a Chinese attempt to throttle Taiwan through an informal blockade.  Read Here Quick Takes  Opinions related to pivotal issues and figures in the news: What's keeping Jack Smith? While fighting Russia, Ukraine is also fighting for a home in Europe How factionalism made the debt ceiling deal possible Why birthright citizenship may not apply to children of undocumented immigrants   You're all caught up. See you next time!  Views expressed by contributors are theirs and not the opinion of The Hill. Interested in submitting an op-ed? Click here.  Check out The Hill's Opinion section online for the latest and take a moment to view our other topical products 📩 Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  1625 K Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20006 Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.

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