If Pence had been honest about his stance on contested votes long before the votes were counted (at least a month before when people started talking about the possibility), this could've been a principled action. I think there's a legitimate case that the VP counting the standby electors would've looked more sketchy than counting the electors produced by not following the rules, and with illegally limited oversight.

Instead, he waited until literally the last minute, hoping he wouldn't need to answer the question or something, hoping that everyone on one side would think he thought one way, and everyone on the other side, the opposite. Now this action is marred by the idea that he's acting only in support of his own political future, rather than trying to judiciously and vigorously uphold the Constitution and its ideals.