Quoting Russell Coker (russell@coker.com.au):
The common practice in Australian politics is to have the "Deputy PM" be someone who supports the PM but lacks the power to mount a credible challenge. Likewise in Westminster, if memory serves.
In the case of Pence, I doubt that he would be likely to win a Congressional popularity contest, it's possible that he would do worse than Trump. Paul Ryan might not be the most likely, but he seems a much better candidate.
You may already know this, but just to be clear: If the US President dies or is removed from office, whoever is then the Vice-President automatically ascends to the Presidency, irrespective of whether anyone in Congress or elsewhere likes him/her. This is why the oft-disregarded VP office is actually crucial, even given that one of FDR's Vice-Presidents pronounced the office 'not worth spit'. (The noun actually used was reportedly more vulgar.) The VP post is also distinctive for being the only office at the White House whose occupant The Toddler has zero power to fire. ;-> The Constitution (as amended) states a very specific, non-changeable order of succession. If there is no seated VP, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives ascends automatically to the Presidency -- and then it goes down a long and non-negotiatible list that cannot be changed except through yet another Constitutional amendment.
But I'm really doubtful that they could find cause to impeach Pence.
Well, to use the Arabic expression, 'inshallah' (God willing). One of the interesting things about the Mueller Trump-Russia investigation is that he has been quietly using classic FBI techniques to quietly ascend the Federal ladder, and relying on a number of big hammers such as the Federal statute that makes it a felony (with a five-year prison sentence) to lie to any Federal investigator in the performance of investigatory queries, whether under oath or not. He has been using the classic technique of building a solid case against an underling, then _confidentially_ getting that defendent to fully cooperate in all matters in exchange for reduced charges. Then, with the underling wearing a wire and/or revealing all past communications with peers and higher-ups, he pursues another persion slightly higher up the food chain. As it happens, Pence was among other things in full charge of the transition team coordinating the incoming Administration's affairs between the election results and the inauguration, so there is high likelihood that he was _deeply_ involved in the Trump people's unlawful activities at that time, and possibly also afterwards. All it would take for some damning evidence to emerge, and Pence could be ruined. People make the mistake of thinking Mueller isn't making progress because they are unaware that almost all the public fireworks always occur right at the end of the case.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_federal_election,_1919
Ah, thank you, sir.