Secondly, in purely partisan terms, replacing Trump with Pence would be far from a romp for Republicans. Pence is no Trump. He lacks Trump’s feral charisma, his weird genius as an entertainer, and the image of being a champion of aggrieved heartland forgotten voters.

Pence was a fairly ordinary religious conservative Republican. He was an extremely clumsy governor of Indiana, facing a defeat for re-election. Indeed, he was one of the few Republican politicians even willing to consider being Trump’s running mate, mainly because he had few other options if he wanted to stay in politics.

Most importantly, if Trump is forced out of office, it will split the Republican base. The white nationalist, don’t-bother-me-with-facts hard core, for whom Trump can do no wrong, will be livid. The Republicans will have a very tough time rallying their troops for 2018, while Democrats will be on the march.

So, yes, on all counts, Pence is preferable to Trump. Nixon’s successor, Gerry Ford, a very nice and well-liked politician, could not manage to win re-election in 1976 against an unknown peanut farmer, one Jimmy Carter.