Trump officially announced Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (r.) at a Saturday campaign event in New York City. He introduced himself to the small crowd of invited guests – and, more importantly, viewers at home – describing himself as “a pretty basic guy: a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order”. In fact, he spent about as much time lambasting Clinton as praising Pence, declaring she had led President Barack Obama “down a frightful path” overseas.
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Raised in Columbus, Indiana, in an Irish-Catholic family, Pence revered the Kennedys growing up and has said he voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980.
On Thursday, Trump had convened a midnight campaign conference call about his pick, even after he’d had Pence fly to NY to accept his offer. “He’s a solid, solid person”, Trump said a few minutes into his speech before meandering through a number of other topics as Pence waited in the wings for almost a half hour to be introduced.
“He has a particularly strong talent, a gift if you will, for being able to stick to principle while making his political opponents or those who disagree with him feel like they are being heard and respected”, said Ryan Streeter, a former Pence aide and George W. Bush staffer who is now a public affairs professor at the University of Texas.
“This logo accurately represents what Trump Pence will do to America”, he tweeted.
“Even though the Trump rallies are big productions… for Mike Pence, this is his style: a little more understated, a little more traditional, a little more what you’d expect from a conservative”, said Dana Carroll of suburban Indianapolis.
Pence has significant support among the religious right, which could be vital to Trump, who has so far failed to sway that key pillar of the Republican Party. “I said, ‘Who did he endorse?'”
“I think that what it does show is that Donald Trump is willing to be challenged by other people”, Priebus said. “Donald Trump is a good man and he will make a great president of this nation”. “I don’t want to be an outsider”. He does not share those positions with Pence, who supports free trade and is an unapologetic defender of the war in Iraq.
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Clinton’s team was already painting Pence’s conservative social viewpoints as out of step with the mainstream. The two appeared together on stage only briefly, each standing out of view while the other one spoke. In the process, he took the time to explain his long-held belief that Pence’s previous endorsement of his rival, Ted Cruz, “was more of an endorsement for me”.
