1 December—Remember Mike Pence? He was Scumbag of the United States Donald Trump’s complaisant vice president, defending the chief without fail, faithful to a fault. Until as President of the Senate he manifested some scrotal content when it counted by refusing to cooperate with Trump’s incredibly desperate—and, as usual, self-centered—plot to subvert the democratic process on 6 January.

Trump naturally denounced Pence’s treachery (i.e., refusal to do the wrong thing) and Trump’s enthusiastic goons shouted “Hang Mike Pence!” as they overwhelmed the Capitol. Anybody’s guess whether those morons actually would have done it had they been able, but I wouldn’t put it past them. And of course Trump defended his morons: “Well, the people were very angry.”

Mike Pence has been mooted as a possible—perhaps even probable—Republican presidential candidate in 2024. Instead of Trump or Trump Jr., for instance. Nice clean-cut Christian guy, blah blah blah. And not Kamala Harris.

But I suspect nice Mike scotched his chance to achieve the Oval Office when he told the National Press Club last night that the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v Wade, protecting a woman’s right to have an abortion, was “misguided” and “inflicted a tragedy not only on our nation, but on humanity, that is hard to fathom,” unfairly harming millions of unborn children while triggering a ripple effect of consequences across the country.

“We are asking the Court, in no uncertain terms, to make history,” Pence said. “We are asking the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn Roe v. Wade and restore the sanctity of human life to the center of American law.”

No surprise there, as Pence, who describes himself as a “born-again, evangelical Catholic,” has steadfastly defended the right to fetal life from the get-go. While I can’t support his stand, I must nevertheless give him credit for not only defending, but enthusiastically pressing his beliefs. And he may very well get his wish, or part of it.

The point, however, is that regardless of how the Supremes rule, a majority of American voters favor abortion rights to a greater or lesser extent and thus may well be inclined to punish Mike Pence for his staunch anti-abortion stand. The GOP nomination is one thing, the national election is quite another . . .