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Is Mike Pence the big threat to Palin in the primaries?
Hotair ^ | 12/02/2010 | Allahpundit

Posted on 12/02/2010 7:47:53 PM PST by SeekAndFind

Matt Lewis wonders.

Though Pence says he won’t decide on whether or not to run for president until next year, conservative leaders I spoke to were equally as bullish on Pence.

Chris Chocola, president of the powerful fiscally conservative Club for Growth tells me Pence may benefit from being less well known, and less of a lighting rod than Palin. He also notes that “[Pence's] conservative credentials are really unquestionable.”

“[Pence] appeals to every group that Palin appeals to — and probably a little more,” says Chocola.

“Pence is Palin with gravitas. Pence is Palin with experience,” adds Brent Bozell, chairman of For America.

Regarding experience, FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey says of Pence: “He’s been a rock solid fiscal conservative, showing up not only for the high profile TARP and ObamaCare battles, but also championing issues that are maybe less glamorous politically, but are critically important for our country, such as fundamental tax reform, specifically the flat tax.”

I’ve written about this a bit before. The guy who’s usually mentioned as the threat to Palin is Huckabee, of course, because they’d compete for social conservatives. But establishment Republicans dislike Huck almost as much as they do Sarahcuda, as he’s ever eager to remind us. So imagine for a moment that you’re Karl Rove, nervously weighing the possibility that one of those two will be the nominee. You can try to head them off by pushing Romney or Daniels or Thune, but then you run the risk of a pure “centrists vs. the base” primary — and because the base tends to be more motivated to turn out, they’d have the upper hand. The alternative is to try to coopt part of the base by backing a compromise candidate instead, someone who might be more fiscally and/or socially conservative than the establishment would prefer but who would peel off base voters from Huck and Palin and would stand a better chance of appealing to centrists against Obama. That’s Pence. He’s got 10 years of legislative experience, he’s deeply respected by fiscal cons and social cons, he gives a good speech, and he’s less ostentatious about “values” than Huckabee is so he runs a smaller risk of alienating moderates in the general election.

What he doesn’t have is name recognition, and he’ll need to catch up on that in a hurry to have a serious chance against Palin and/or Huck. Which makes me wonder if, in the next few months, we aren’t about to see a serious public pro-Pence push among people like Rove and other GOP chieftains. I’ve been assuming that we’d see that on Daniels’s behalf, but between his gaffes about calling a truce on social issues and the calculus I described above about needing base voters to win, maybe Beltway types will give up on him as a lost cause and back Pence, the other Hoosier, instead. The big question is whether he’s willing to run for president now or if, as rumored, he’s thinking of running for governor first with an eye to 2016. He’d be a formidable candidate then too, especially with some executive experience under his belt: None of the obvious contenders — Christie, Rubio, Jindal — are especially closely identified with social conservatism, so Pence could clean up. Still, that’s a tougher field than 2012 would be, so maybe GOP insiders could persuade him to go for the big prize now by promising to back him. Honestly wouldn’t surprise me. Exit question: Would it work?

Update: A commenter reminds me that Palin said she won’t run if no other satisfactorily conservative candidate steps up. Well, by virtually any measure, Pence would qualify as satisfactory. Is that reason enough for the establishment to try to push him into the race — to call Palin’s bluff on that promise?


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: mikepence; president; primaries; sarahpalin
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To: The Cajun

I guess you could construe it “longer than that ace”. But those were all within 2 days of each other.


101 posted on 12/02/2010 10:05:19 PM PST by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
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To: altura; pissant
SHE flat out says it:

"Do you then favor an amnesty for the 12 or 13 million undocumented immigrants?
No, I do not. I do not. Not total amnesty. You know, people have got to follow the rules. They've got to follow the bar, and we have got to make sure that there is equal opportunity and those who are here legally should be first in line for services being provided and those opportunities that this great country provides.

To clarify, so you support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants?
I do because I understand why people would want to be in America. To seek the safety and prosperity, the opportunities, the health that is here. It is so important that yes, people follow the rules so that people can be treated equally and fairly in this country."

She clearly favors a path to citizenship and acknowledges that it is a form of amnesty, although not "total amnesty" whatever that is. Most Conservatives know that a path to citizenship is amnesty.

102 posted on 12/02/2010 10:06:13 PM PST by FTJM
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To: pissant
Until she kept talking and I researched her record.

I'll try to find exactly when you started with the DU talking points.....Should be interesting.

103 posted on 12/02/2010 10:07:07 PM PST by The Cajun
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To: FTJM

The cultists know it too. But they are now reduced to running interference for their goddess. It’s frankly so pathetic, it’s funny.


104 posted on 12/02/2010 10:08:19 PM PST by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
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To: DaxtonBrown

“Pence is Palin without a following.”

Exactly.


105 posted on 12/02/2010 10:08:41 PM PST by toddausauras
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To: The Cajun

By all means. Please do.


106 posted on 12/02/2010 10:08:50 PM PST by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
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To: FTJM

You’re posting misrepresentations again.

in an 09 interview Gov. Palin stated emphatically, twice that she was not for amnesty.

Your assumptions aren’t interesting, your conjecture is vapid.


107 posted on 12/02/2010 10:10:07 PM PST by rbmillerjr (I will not, under any circumstances, vote for Mitt Romney....none.)
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To: pissant
But those were all within 2 days of each other.

What about all the rest I didn't post?

108 posted on 12/02/2010 10:10:10 PM PST by The Cajun
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To: pissant

We don’t need to run interference. Her power in the political arena has never been stronger than today if you look at it realistically. So why would she need folks to run interference? I mean, yeah, if her popularity was crumbling and her poll numbers were plumetting, ok...but that’s not where we’re at.


109 posted on 12/02/2010 10:11:15 PM PST by toddausauras
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To: The Cajun

Like I said, it lasted a month or so before I started the other way. I think I actually forgot all about her until the cult crowd started telling me she was the next Reagan.


110 posted on 12/02/2010 10:11:58 PM PST by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
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To: pissant

Um, I’m glad you and your friends did all that wonderful vetting of Palin, but it doesn’t help those of us who work for a living and may have missed the specific threads that expose all her alleged closet liberalism. I only have one issue with her that I know of, and that is her states rights approach to abortion, and my position, federal personhood, isn’t even the dominant conservative theory.

So if it wouldn’t trouble you too much, perhaps you could elucidate a bit on your list of complaints? For example, when I look up Palin on global warming, I see her snake oil comment, which is arguably the conservative position, or her theory that warming could be real but its not anthropogenic, a little weaker, but definitely not structured to encourage socialist takeovers via environmentalism. And then there’s LOST. I tried looking it up, but all I’m coming up with is how Bristol LOST. I’m not asking for verbose aid here, just a hint or two as to where this is coming from.

Thanks,

SR


111 posted on 12/02/2010 10:12:14 PM PST by Springfield Reformer (Winston Churchill: No Peace Till Victory!)
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To: toddausauras

ROFL


112 posted on 12/02/2010 10:13:28 PM PST by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
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To: pissant
I actually forgot all about her

Kind of sounds like the Hillary billing records defense "I can't seem to remember".

113 posted on 12/02/2010 10:14:07 PM PST by The Cajun
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To: pissant

It’s pretty bad. Nothing she says means anything to them. They infer their own meaning into comments while they stomp their feet and try to scream over people.


114 posted on 12/02/2010 10:14:23 PM PST by FTJM
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To: SeekAndFind

Mike who?


115 posted on 12/02/2010 10:14:40 PM PST by Kevmo (Has Obama resigned yet?)
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To: pissant

Well, why don’t you save those direct quotes and copy them on every thread you come on to trash Palin.

I didn’t see any direct quotes on the thread you sent me to and I don’t see why I should have to wade through the interminable argument on that thread to find anything substantial.

Save the quotes in your word and paste them here. It should be worth that trouble to you if you really want to prove your point.


116 posted on 12/02/2010 10:15:41 PM PST by altura
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To: altura

I didn’t send you to a “thread”. I sent you to one POST on a thread.


117 posted on 12/02/2010 10:16:49 PM PST by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
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To: rbmillerjr
There you go again, lying about her record to hide the facts. You usually troll and run so I'll leave you with some of her very own words:

“We, our policy, John McCain has been so clear with his policy and it makes a lot of sense too. We secure our borders first. But then with a comprehensive approach we must deal humanely with those who are here, and we must allow the steps to be taken to protect the families of those who are here, maybe as illegal immigrants today.....”

"As governor, how do you deal with them? Do you think they all should be deported?

"There is no way that in the US we would roundup every illegal immigrant - there are about 12 million of the illegal immigrants - not only economically is that just an impossibility but that’s not a humane way anyway to deal with the issue that we face with illegal immigration.”

Buh-bye.

118 posted on 12/02/2010 10:18:22 PM PST by FTJM
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To: Lazlo in PA
OK, now that's going too far.

I owe you one.

Cheers!

119 posted on 12/02/2010 10:18:50 PM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: pissant

“ROFL”

I was expecting a bit more substance but I know you’re busy on this thread. If you have a chance, what part of my statement regarding her present standing would you refute?


120 posted on 12/02/2010 10:20:06 PM PST by toddausauras
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