The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.

C’mon, Mike. You’re better than this. (Irrespective of the MAGA belief that you deserve to burn in eternal hell for upholding the U.S. Constitution, of course.) This report is actually about a Pence insider — I doubt the guy would’ve popped off without the former veep’s approval.

Pence, who’s been hinting at a 2024 presidential run for months, recently visited Iowa and other key states, presumably to test the waters. As I reported on Sunday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrapped up a week-long visit to the Hawkeye State, as well, capping off the trip with a killer (campaign) video posted on Twitter.

THANK YOU, IOWA!

Together, Iowa and Florida are leading the way for a freer and safer nation…

…And we’re just getting started.

“And we’re just getting started.” I wonder what the popular Florida governor meant by that? [winking emoji]

THANK YOU, IOWA!

Together, Iowa and Florida are leading the way for a freer and safer nation…

…And we’re just getting started. pic.twitter.com/buAwJTMIRl

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) March 12, 2023

The Washington Post reported last Thursday that DeSantis has said privately he intends to run, according to two people familiar with his comments. DeSantis has also said there’s no caveat to whether he’ll run — he’s in. His announcement is expected to come in early summer.

Anyway, as reported by the Washington Examiner, a person close to Pence — who the Examiner noted “was not authorized by the budding campaign,” which is a thinly veiled attempt to absolve a politician of connection to the story at hand — is taking aim at DeSantis as not qualified to run in 2024 because “nobody really knows” him.

A. That’s demonstrably false. B. If even partially true, what difference does it make? Presidential campaigns last for more than a year, giving voters ample time to get to “know” the candidates.

Nonetheless, claims the unidentified Pence insider:

[DeSantis is seen as] a combination of Ronald Reagan and Willie Nelson and Bono all wrapped up into one. But he’s everything to everybody right now because nobody really knows him.

Lame, dude, lame.

On the contrary, the anonymous insider said of the former vice president:

[Pence] is almost on the flip side of that. Everybody thinks they know him. They think they have an expectation of who he is. And then when they meet them, they’re like, ‘That’s not what I was thinking. He’s funny. He’s personable. He’s nice.’

I don’t disagree with any of the above, but even before the low-information “Hang Mike Pence!” cult unfairly tried to destroy arguably the most loyal member of the Trump administration, I didn’t think Pence possessed the right personality to electrify a sufficient number of Republican voters to win the 2024 nomination and I still don’t.

Besides, until the Age of Revenge [ahem] among the faithful is dead and buried, a Pence run at the White House is simply not viable.

That said, it appears that the former vice president might be close to announcing a run. As my colleague Joe Cunningham reported on Sunday, Pence went after Trump bigly on Saturday, accusing the 45th president of endangering his family on January 6, 2021. Pence also declared that “history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”

And so the 2024 GOP jockeying begins in earnest.

Given Trump’s recent attacks on DeSantis, let alone his treatment of other GOP candidates in 2016, 2024 promises to be a bloodletting within the Republican Party of historic proportions. In my not-so-humble opinion, the sooner the field is cleared so DeSantis and Trump can go mano a mano, the better for America.