A Sierra Club Indiana campaigner on Friday said Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who was named as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s pick for vice president, would be the flawless running mate for Trump, who has said he doesn’t believe in climate change.
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Sabato’s Crystall Ball, a political analysis blog run by the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said that while vice presidential picks rarely matter in presidential elections Pence could help overcome some of Trump’s weaknesses.
Donald Trump’s selection of Mike Pence as his running mate on Friday brought out immediate reactions from supporters and opponents of abortion rights. While Trump showcases his choice, Democrat Hillary Clinton’s team is already painting Pence’s conservative social viewpoints as out of step with the mainstream. He is less of a loose cannon than the other finalists for the job, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Rokita says IN was “a backwater as a state” before the past 12 years of Republican governors.
Pence, 57, only emerged on the short list in recent weeks, after better-known party heavyweights including vanquished presidential contenders like John Kasich or Ted Cruz either declined to be considered or appeared to not make the cut.
He is, in House Speaker Paul Ryan’s words, a “movement conservative” – a true believer who voted against key legislative items backed by then-President George W Bush, such as a federal prescription drug benefit for the elderly, because he viewed them as a risky and wasteful big government expansion.
Trump is now up against two clocks: The Republican convention kicks off in Cleveland on Monday, leaving little time for re-scheduling.
Pence is an anti-LGBT Christian who, according to ABC, said in 2009: “N$3 othing can compare to the inexpressible joy I felt on a night in April 1978, when I gave my life to Jesus Christ”.
In 2014 Pence called for ratification of the deal on Twitter: “Trade means jobs, but trade also means security”. Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign has indicated he would prohibit entry into the USA from unspecified countries with histories of terrorism rather than by all Muslims. With Pence sitting in a NY hotel, Trump made a decision to postpone the announcement and later told Fox News he had not yet settled on his “final, final” choice.
Other users said the shape of the “T” and “P” letters were suggestive, while some tweets mocked Mr Trump’s style of tweets with exclamation marks. Interestingly, the person who seemed to be the least happy about Pence was Donald Trump.
“I wish I could send a better message to the nation and the world today about Mike Pence’s record, but the sad fact is that if he has the chance to do to our nation what he did to Indiana it will be a disaster for the health of American communities from coast to coast”, Sierra Club Indiana Campaigner Jodi Perras told reporters.
The two men scheduled a news conference for Saturday in NY to present themselves to America as the Republican team that will take on Hillary Clinton and her Democratic running mate in November.
At the same time, Pence and Trump hold diametrically opposing views on key issues. Yelp refused to open offices in IN and states with similar laws, Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote a scathing op-ed criticizing discriminatory bills, and Miley Cyrus famously called Pence an “asshole” on Instagram.
Pence’s re-election prospects in IN added to the drama surrounding Trump’s decision.
Rokita, who twice won statewide races for secretary of state before being elected to Congress in 2010, also said that in was a “backwater” state before the last 12 years of GOP governors.
Pence, who had flown to be in NY on Thursday night, was originally scheduled to have been announced as the nominee at an event on Friday morning.
Pence brings some liabilities, though, with his support of an IN religious freedom bill that liberals saw as opening windows for extensive discrimination against gays and lesbians.
When the Federal Bureau of Investigation charged an 18-year-old with terror-related charges, Pence avoided his running mate’s hyperbolic language.
“Pence is a principled conservative, man of faith, and talented messenger for Republican ideas”, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
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The 22-member Republican committee has 30 days to select a new nominee for governor, but former state Republican Chairman Mike McDaniel said he expects a decision will be sooner.
