Two decades later, Pence is the unflappable conservative governor of IN who’s being plucked by Republican presidential contender Donald Trump as his running mate. Despite Trump’s best introductory efforts, then, this was a smash hit for Manafort: commentators are already beginning to forget which candidate is atop the ticket.
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A favorite quote highlights how Pence might smooth some of the sharp corners of the Trump campaign and its supporters. “I want to express our unyielding support for the people of France and we mourn their loss as a nation”, he said. “But I’m not angry about it”.
Pence has strong ties to billionaire donors Charles and David Koch, including current and former staff members who have worked for them.
Donald Trump says the man who will join him on the Republican presidential ticket is a “man of character, honor and honesty”. “He’s a counterbalance to Trump in that way”.
Some conservatives, who had fought against Trump’s ascendancy in the Republican nominating race, welcomed his announcement that he had picked Pence, a well-known social and evangelical conservative.
Instead, Pence insisted that “we got to do something different”. Correct. Indiana’s May 3 primary was where Cruz aimed to stop Trump’s momentum. “I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order”. Pence stirred up worldwide outrage a year ago when he signed the controversial “Religious Freedom Restoration Act”, which gives businesses the right to discriminate against gay people on the grounds of religion.
Only Trump knows exactly his level of certainty as he zeroed in on one of the most important decisions of his campaign.
According to a 2010 candidate survey published by Indiana Right to Life, Pence told the advocacy group that he opposed abortion under all circumstances – even when necessary to save the life of the woman giving birth.
“As governor, Pence personally spearheaded an anti-LGBT law that legalized discrimination against the LGBT community, alienated businesses, caused boycotts, lost investments and embarrassed Hoosiers- a law he was later forced to revise”. He met his wife, Karen, around the same time and twice unsuccessfully ran for Congress before taking a job at Indiana Policy Review, a conservative think-tank.
Trump and Pence are scheduled to make their first joint appearance Saturday morning in NY.
“That means your First Amendment rights end at the tip of your opponent’s nose – even in the matter of political rhetoric”, Pence wrote, though he backtracked in the face of a hard re-election campaign in Indiana.
In Congress, Pence sponsored a few bills that became law as amendments in other legislation. Dan Quayle bounded onto a dock in New Orleans as George H.W. Bush’s pick. In fact, he spent about as much time lambasting Clinton as praising Pence, declaring she had led President Barack Obama “down a terrible path” overseas.
On the Iraq war vote, Pence suggested that “reasonable people can differ on whether or not we should have gone into Iraq”.
Hillary for America said in a statement: “By picking Mike Pence as his running mate, Donald Trump has doubled down on some of his most disturbing beliefs by choosing an incredibly divisive and unpopular running mate known for supporting discriminatory politics and failed economic policies that favor millionaires and corporations over working families”.
Marc Short, a former Pence aide and top Koch brothers operative, elaborated: “He’s worked with (House Speaker) Paul Ryan”.
Pence’s one term as governor has drawn mixed reaction, and he has managed to alienate moderate Republicans over social issues.
This year Pence clashed with the local Catholic archdiocese by opposing the settlement of Syrian refugees in Indianapolis. Along with supporting traditional conservative legislation, Pence also supported unconventional maneuvers, such as a 2011 gambit to defund Planned Parenthood that almost forced the shutdown of the federal government.
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But he has also presided over Indiana’s improving economy and plummeting unemployment rate, which Republicans credit to the state’s low taxes, limited regulation and pro-business climate.
