Eyeing his political future, Mr. Pence has made a few tentative attempts at self-promotion — but perhaps so tentative as to render them ineffectual. His aides, encouraged by Republican National Committee officials, had hoped to send Mr. Pence for a grand tour of all 50 state delegations at the 2020 convention, the kind of ritual outreach that can forge friendships for a future campaign. But when the in-person convention was scrapped, that broader plan went with it.
More recently, Mr. Pence has held a series of luncheons with Republican political consultants, including some who do not work for the Trump campaign, gathering them either at the Naval Observatory or the Trump Hotel in downtown Washington for wide-ranging conversations about the political landscape. People invited to participate have interpreted the sessions as an effort by Mr. Pence to expand his brain trust ahead of 2024; Pence aides claimed they’ve been a chance to get feedback for the Trump re-election campaign during a period when the president has been shaking up his staff.
Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist close to the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said he saw Mr. Pence as a “good soldier” but not an overpowering force.
“I don’t think people are going to get out of the way for him,” Mr. Jennings said of Mr. Pence. “I don’t think he can expect to be anointed simply because he served as vice president.”
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