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Vice-President Mike Pence practices his hosting skills at the Naval Observatory on March 16, 2017. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Fueling speculation about your own political ambition is one of the vice-presidents key duties, and Mike Pence is doing a stellar job. Thanks to all the talk of Trumps potential impeachment people are already talking about what a Pence administration might look like, but the veep isnt letting the Russia investigation do the work for him. In May he launched his own PAC, which is a first for a sitting vice president, and now the New York Times reports that hes been quietly courting key donors, business executives, and Republican political leaders.

The effort is said to include one-on-one talks with wealthy donors who have yet to embrace Trump, like billionaire Charles Koch, and appearances at receptions with potential donors to the pro-Trump group America First Policies. But according to the Times, dining chez Pence is the veeps favorite tactic:

The centerpiece of the effort is a string of dinners held every few weeks at the vice presidents official residence on the grounds of the Naval Observatory in Washington. Mr. Pence and his wife, Karen, have presided over at least four such soires, and more are in the works. Each has drawn roughly 30 to 40 guests, including a mix of wealthy donors such as the Chicago hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin and the brokerage firm founder Charles Schwab, as well as Republican fund-raisers and executives from companies like Dow Chemical and the military contractor United Technologies.

Close Pence advisers who are involved in America First Policies and America First Action help select the guest list, and many of the invitees happened to help raise millions for the Trump campaign. However, Pences press secretary Marc Lotter described the dinners as private events, rather than political fund-raisers which could be problematic, as soliciting political contributions in government buildings is illegal.

Obviously wooing important GOP donors helps Pences political prospects, but it doesnt mean hes scheming behind Trumps back. As the Times notes, Trump does not like courting campaign contributors and may be happy to leave the task to Pence.

Its not unusual for presidents to offer perks to influential supporters, and Vice-President Joe Biden entertained donors at the Naval Observatory as well. But previous administrations did not run on the idea that they werent beholden to big donors, and would drain the D.C. swamp.

Hes been holding dinners for donors and other influential GOP figures at his home on the grounds of the Naval Observatory.

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Pence Drains Swamp by Inviting Donors to Vice-President's Residence - New York Magazine

Vice President Mike Pence broke the rules during a tour of NASAs Kennedy Space Center on Thursday and the internet isnt ignoring it.

Mr. Pence was touring the facility with Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, when Reuters photographer Mike Brown captured the vice president blatantly disregarding a prominently displayed DO NOT TOUCH sign.

The image of Mr. Pence placing his hand on equipment labeled critical space flight hardware mere inches from the warning sign surfaced online late Thursday and instantly went viral.

The photograph exploded on internet forums like Reddit and 4Chan where visitors raced to make comical mock-ups of the image, and a tweet containing the original snapshot shared by Twitter user Mike Rundle on Thursday was retweeted nearly 9,000 times by Friday afternoon in addition to garnering hundreds of reactions.

New rule: you touch the spacecraft, you go with it, responded astrophysicist Katie Mack.

When youre a star they let you do it, tweeted space author Jason Major, a likely reference to Donald Trumps comment about grabbing womens genitals in a 2005 Access Hollywood tape that was leaked before last years presidential election.

Mr. Pence eventually joined in on the fun Friday afternoon, tweeting: Sorry @NASA@MarcoRubio dared me to do it!

It was OK to touch the surface, NASA responded moments later. Those are just day-to-day reminder signs. We were going to clean it anyway. It was an honor to host you!

Mr. Trump last week signed an executive order re-establishing the National Space Council and appointed Mr. Pence as its chairman.

Let us do what our nation has always done since its very founding and beyond: Weve pushed the boundaries on frontiers, not just of territory, but of knowledge, Mr. Pence told Kennedy Center employees Thursday, according to NASA. Weve blazed new trails, and weve astonished the world as weve boldly grasped our future without fear. From this Bridge to Space, our nation will return to the moon, and we will put American boots on the face of Mars.

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Mike Pence mocked en masse as 'DO NOT TOUCH' photo from NASA ...

BBC News

Mike Pence ignores Nasa 'do not touch' sign BBC News US Vice-President Mike Pence has made a tongue-in-cheek apology to Nasa after a photo of him touching a piece of space flight equipment went viral. Mr Pence was visiting the Kennedy Space Center in Florida when he placed his hand on a piece of ... Pence on that viral NASA photo: Rubio dared meCNN What was Mike Pence touching at NASA and is it okay?The Verge Mike Pence Says He Touched NASA Equipment Because Marco Rubio Dared HimTIME USA TODAY -New York Magazine all 279 news articles »

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Mike Pence ignores Nasa 'do not touch' sign - BBC News

Somebody sound the Ted Cruz Comedy Alarm: Another prominent conservative figure has stumbled into the world of online attempts at humor. Vice President Mike Pence became the center of an internet comedy trend earlier this week, when a photo of him resolutely ignoring a Do Not Touch sign during a NASA tour began making the rounds. (NASA later let the VP off the hook for his daring burst of sign-defying naughtiness.)

Now, in an apparent effort to project an image of being laughed with, rather than at, Pence has joined in on the fun, claiming that Marco Rubiothat old goofster!dared him to do it. Amazingly, Pence then doubled-down, posting a Photoshopped image of himself engaging in some other dangerous touching:

And while were pretty sure this is actually the work of some vice-presidential intern, ordered to make their reproductive rights-hostile boss seem vaguely human, theres something amusing about imagining Pence putting the picture together himself:

Mother, he shouts, clicking away at the computer. Im doing it! Im meme-ing, just like the grandkids! Sounds sinful, comes the demurred response from the other room, and in his heart of hearts, Mike Pence knows his mother-wife is right. Still, he cant help himselfthe Lasso tool has him in its terrible grip. He cruises his way onto 4chan, new meme ideas bubbling into his brain. The era of vice-presidential shitposting has begun.

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Mike Pence discovers Photoshop, humor - A.V. Club (blog)

From what we know about Vice President Mike Pence, hes not much of a risk-taker. More like a Boy Scout rule-follower to his absolute detriment, to the point where hes afraid to be alone in a room with a woman that hes not married to, and finds the Disney movie Mulan a bit too edgy.

So it was a shock to NASA, and the world, when on a visit to the Kennedy Space Center, Rebel Pence emerged. In flagrant disregard of what looks to be a message printed on a piece of white paper attached by a piece of yellow tape, the vice president clearly touched, with his unsullied hand, a piece of vague but certainly Critical Space Flight Hardware marked with a DO NOT TOUCH sign, confusingly in quotes.

A NASA source told The Verge that it looks like the vice president is touching the forward bay cover of the Orion capsule, which is exactly what it sounds like: the thing that goes over the forward bay Our source says the sign was probably there to minimize handling of the hardware. A quick cleaning of the surface and all is okay, he says.

That is an enormous relief, but our main takeaway from this now-global incident is that NASA needs much better signage.

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Rebel Mike Pence breaks rules when Mother's not looking - A.V. Club (blog)