Posted on 12/02/2010 7:47:53 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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?
Threat? What, are they enemies or something..o brother.
Context my man.
“”Up until two weeks ago, John McCain was a leading proponent of amnesty. Now with me challenging him, suddenly he has changed.”
...J.D. Hayworth on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 in an interview on the Fox Business Network
McCain has even acknowledged the change of heart, telling O’Reilly on April 19, 2010, that, “I changed [my mind] over a year ago, as you know. The violence on the border is incredible.”
5'7"
;-) Just trying to add my 2 cents to the lame excuse files.
From May 14, 2010...
"McCain maintains his positions remain consistent with the tactical shift he made in 2007 during the GOP presidential-primary race. Citing the public outcry that killed comprehensive reform that year, McCain started saying that the border must be secured before addressing other reforms such as a guest-worker program or a path to citizenship. His campaign points out that even the 2007 comprehensive bill included 370 miles of border fencing and 200 miles of vehicular barriers."
The only change in his position was to agree to seal the border first, before his amnesty plan.
God, I hope so.
Don’t get me wrong... I LOVE Sarah, but Mike is a much better POTUS candidate.
Your post is not relevant to the perception that people were given, including his Primary opponent JD Hayworth. Also, McCain’s own comments regarding his position illustrate McCain not supporting amnesty.
Steinhauser reports that over the three days she spent with the McCain campaign, the most commonly asked question was why he supported amnesty for illegal aliens.
McCain’s answer…“I never supported amnesty.”
So, given this, Palin simply stating that she “supported McCain’s position during the campaign, does not circumvent her own position of “I don’t support amnesty”.
Do you seriously think McCain would admit he supports amnesty? Seriously? He plays the same word games that you do. He changed his position on securing the border first, but did not change his position on supporting a path to citizenship. Hayworth knows this, as do Conservatives who aren’t blind.
Mike Pence is a lifelong Hoosier and national advocate for limited government, fiscal discipline, a strong national defense, and traditional moral values.
Pence has opposed bailouts, government takeovers and runaway federal spending throughout his time in Congress.
Mike Pence was born in Columbus, Indiana, graduated from Hanover College in 1981 and earned his J.D. from Indiana University School of Law in 1986. Pence was first elected to Congress in 2000 and was most recently elected to a fifth term in November of 2008. He also was elected unanimously by House Republicans to serve as House Republican Conference Chairman in November 2008.
In his role as Conference Chairman, he helps to develop and disseminate the message of the Republican Conference and to promote its Members. Republican Leader John Boehner described Pence as "a servant leader and cheerful warrior who will never lay down his arms in the fight for a government that honors our Constitution and reflects the consent of the governed."
Prior to being elected to Congress, Pence was president of the conservative Indiana Policy Review Foundation and hosted “The Mike Pence Show,” a syndicated radio show throughout the state of Indiana. He also hosted a Sunday morning political television show in Indianapolis. Congressman Pence describes himself as "a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order." Congressman Pence and his wife Karen have three children and reside in Columbus, Indiana. The Pence family lives in Arlington, Virginia while Congress is in session.
no offense, but no one, IMHO, is a threat to Sarah.....
I am not tying to fight the inside elite. I am not so ambitious. I am just looking for somebody to cut the budget, stabilize taxes, rationalize regulation, assert our interest internationally, eliminate the deficit and save the country.
But I don't want to go takin' on the inside elite... That's crazy talk!
..and yet she is slightly to the right of GWB if I read correctly
I'm afraid that the pack mentality can deafen ears to the wisdom in the warnings you offer re coronation.
ALSO many are learning that getting into a verbal battle with the pissant is like attacking somebody with a plastic picnic knife--not realizing he has a chainsaw LOL
Weak strawman.
The point is not what McCain does, we all know he is an amnesty loving RINO. He’s already flipped back.
What is relevant in this conversation is that McCain gave the impression that he did NOT support amnesty in the last election when Gov. Palin made her comments.
So, her comments regarding McCain don’t circumvent her belief, that she states emphatically, that she does NOT support amnesty. She even references kicking them out.
She may decide not to run. She may make a game changing mistake in an interview or debate.
But barring that, she WILL win the R nomination.
And if the economy is similar or worse than today, she WILL win the Presidency.
This is an utterly false and imbecilic statement.
II - "It’s hilarious."
What's hilarious, Junior, is part I of your remarks.
Pence is hardly part of "the Establishment".
What he is: a bona fide conservative, Christian, affable, and extremely bright.
Now if they could just send everyone else home and it just be a Pence vs Palin primary, I’d be happy.
America wins either way.
If you are mad and insist on calling me Jr. ...fine.
But we don’t have disagreement. Pence is one of my favorite conservatives, I actually like him better than DeMint.
If you go back and look at my comment precisely, I stated that “the Establishment is looking for...”. I did not call Pence part of the Establishment. So, we have no argument here. Palin/Pence would be a great ticket.
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