Trump conceded that one of the reasons he’d selected Pence was to promote unity within the Republican Party, left deeply fractured by Trump’s ascent.
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And now, the billionaire businessman is poised to head into the general election with a political partner who – by all outward appearances – appears to be his polar opposite.
Clinton’s campaign is seizing on the suggestion that Donald Trump may have wavered in making his vice presidential pick.
“I saw him at the rally that he did with Trump and his attempt at passionate enthusiasm was Donald Trump’s ‘hello, ‘” said Brett O’Donnell, a GOP political veteran who has advised former GOP nominees John McCain and Mitt Romney.
They are not a natural pair, their close associates said. The next morning, Trump’s family flew in from NY to spend time with the governor at his residence.
However, Trump aides reached out to Pence earlier this month – Pence said he would meet only as a courtesy – and they played golf together over the July Fourth Weekend at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.
Gingrich described the contrast this way during a Facebook live: “He had a choice between having two pirates on the ticket or having a pirate and a relatively stable, more normal person”. As The Washington Post’s Amber Phillips wrote in an excellent sketch of Pence, some conservatives “thought he backed off last year’s religious freedom debate under pressure from liberals”.
Whatever one thinks of Pence’s views – and we find many of them narrow-minded and troubling, such as his skepticism about climate change and his attacks on abortion rights – he possesses the sort of résumé that Americans traditionally expect in their presidents and vice presidents.
Christie – who as a key surrogate for then-nominee Mitt Romney roused the MI delegation in Tampa four years ago – was the first major Trump supporter to come before the state’s group, getting loud cheers from those in the group who voiced their belief for – and support of – Christie becoming Trump’s attorney general should the Republican win.
The group represents a blend of new and old Pence loyalists – but is notable for the lack of any longtime Trump staffers in the mix. There were many Republicans who could have helped Trump far more.
The event – the culmination of a vice presidential rollout that featured mixed signals, second-guessing and a 24-hour delay – was meant to assert that Trump and Pence would stand up to America’s enemies while being “the law-and-order candidates” at home.
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In choosing Pence, Trump appeared to be looking past their numerous policy differences. Late Thursday night, Trump asked top advisers if he could pull out of his decisions, and was told he could not, sources told CNN’s Dana Bash. And Marty Obst will work as director of operations after serving as the campaign manager of Pence’s re-election bid in Indiana. Even if Pence were the reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln, his presence on the ticket won’t alter the fact that the Republican candidate for president is a shallow self-promoter who traffics in bigotry and bluster.
