A majority of Democrats wish Mike Pence were president


President Mike Pence? Most Democrats wish they could say those words, a new poll has found. The PredictWise and Pollfish survey discovered that an entire 62 percent of Democrats prefer Pence in office over President Trump, BuzzFeed News reports.
"I think it's fair to say that every Democrat I know would prefer a President Mike Pence, without hesitation," said one top Democratic aide. "He would pass some very bad laws, possibly more efficiently than Trump will. But we would not be worried about nuclear war, the end of NATO and an unholy alliance with Russia, the dissolution of basic democratic norms and principles, or the base-level stability and mental health of the world's most powerful person."
President Obama's speechwriter, Jon Favreau, agreed: "I'd sleep easier with almost any other human being as president than Donald Trump," Favreau confessed. "I'm not as worried [Pence] would accidentally start a nuclear war because some Breitbart lunatic floated a conspiracy that got under his skin."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Director Joss Whedon told BuzzFeed News that he would prefer Veruca Salt, Smaug, and four radishes in a bowl over Trump — and yes, Mike Pence too. "Pence is unethical, but he's quantifiable. He's opposable," Whedon explained. "Like a thumb."
Other liberals warned about falling for the grass being greener on the other side. “Clearly on the 'oh s--- am I going to die' every morning, Pence would provide a little bit of relief," Angelo Carusone, the president of Media Matters, told BuzzFeed News. But "what Pence represents is just as scary. It's a slower approach to the same sort of devastation that Trump is bringing us to."
The poll reached 1,200 people on March 6, with PredictWise economist David Rothschild declining to report a margin of error because he does "not believe it can be accurately estimated."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
‘The Taliban delivers yet another brutal blow’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Renewables top coal as Trump seeks reversal
Speed Read For the first time, renewable energy sources generated more power than coal, said a new report
-
Prime minister shocks France with resignation
Speed Read French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu submitted his government’s resignation after less than a month in office
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies