Posted on 04/17/2014 7:22:56 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
If you’re wondering why this otherwise prosaic Bloomberg piece about Pence’s national future begins with a mention of the Koch brothers, it’s probably because the guy who wrote it worked for Paul Sarbanes and, briefly, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz before resuming his career as an impartial reporter.
But never mind that. Is Pence the dark horse?
“I have no doubt that he would make a great president,” said Steven Chancellor, the chief executive officer of Evansville, Indiana-based American Patriot Group, the parent of a company that makes ready-to-eat rations for the Pentagon. “He certainly distinguished himself in the House” and is “off to a great start as governor.”…
He spoke at the Washington-based Club for Growth’s annual conference in Florida in February and, during a trade visit to Europe this week, he is expected to criticize President Barack Obama for failing to counter the annexation of Crimea by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Five years ago, Pence scolded Obama for revising President George W. Bush’s missile defense plan in Eastern Europe because Russia opposed it…
Pence has won praise from small-government conservatives for taking action in Indiana to back away from Common Core education standards supported by another potential Republican candidate, Florida’s Bush. The Washington-based Heritage Foundation, in a Facebook posting, applauded him for rejecting Common Core.
His allies say Pence has developed bonds with the major constituencies within the Republican Party — the small-government crowd, anti-abortion rights groups, and defense hawks — without alienating business-oriented voters.
He’s well-known to grassroots righties as a full-spectrum conservative — socially, fiscally, and hawkish on defense. I remember commenters pleading with him in both 2008 and 2012 to jump in and spare them the agony of another squishy nominee. That would have been tough at the time, when he was known only for being a member of the House; famously, no congressman’s won the White House since Garfield in the 19th century. Now, though, he’s got a year of experience as governor of a midwestern swing state and will have two more years under his belt by the time Iowa votes in 2016. In fact, I believe he’s the only potential candidate in the GOP field who’s served as both the chief executive of a state and a federal legislator. He knows his way around in a way that none of his rivals do.
What’s his niche in the field if he decides to run, though? He might be too conservative for centrists who are more comfortable with Jeb or Christie, especially on immigration. He might be too hawkish and right-wing on social issues for libertarians who like Paul. And he might be too low-key for tea partiers who prefer Cruz. There’s a chance, I think, that he and Jindal would end up in the same box, as guys who are respected on all sides but who fail to excite any single constituency to the degree needed to build a movement. I see him as a potential compromise candidate if the party ends up deadlocked between the centrist champion and the tea-party champion — but then, I also see Scott Walker in the same role. Who wins if Walker and Pence end up competing to be white knight/dark horse that rescues the GOP from a bitter fight between Jeb and Rand at the eleventh hour? My hunch is that Walker does because he won the battle of Armageddon in Wisconsin, but that depends on how important immigration is in the primaries. I think Pence is more of a hawk than Walker is; he’s been a reliable borders-first guy whereas Walker is … more complicated. If Walker ends up struggling because of immigration, maybe Pence is the answer. They may be the only two guys with a legit shot to win who can play with both the establishment and the base.
Is the post-Paul GOP ready to nominate a guy, though, who not only supported invading Iraq but cast a vote in Congress to do so? Hillary did too, of course, but Hillary will back far, far away from that vote in the general election. Will Pence?
I’ve liked Gov Pence for a long time.
Me too. He was doing well I thought in the house before he ran for governor. Unless he has skeletons he seemed to be an acceptable conservative.
Probably 3rd or 4th on my list after Ted Cruz, Rand Paul...
Ditto. I was also one of those who said he needed some executive experience first. We’ll, now he has it, and should be a name worth considering.
From Wikipedia:
In June 2006, Pence unveiled a plan he describes as “no amnesty immigration reform” consisting of increased border security, followed by strict enforcement of laws against hiring illegal aliens, and a guest worker program. This guest worker program requires potential participants to apply from their home country to government-approved job placement agencies that match workers with employers who cannot find Americans for the job.[29] The plan has received support from conservative leaders such as Dick Armey.[30] Pat Buchanan described this as “stealth amnesty,” claiming that it is merely a “one week vacation” for illegal immigrants to return to their home country to apply for jobs under the program.[31] Others (Phyllis Schlafly and Tom Tancredo) have criticized Pence’s plan.[32][33]
Otherwise, he’d be a great candidate.
But does he EXCITE? Or is he a bland speaker?
Pence or Jindal....Kasich might have been a good choice if he had not folded like a cheap tent.
Reason: these guys USED TO BE legislators in DC, but now have EXECUTIVE experience in running a state, balancing a budget, etc. For me, these two factors are big.
Another huge linchpin is the extent of their private sector experience.
What made Romney a far better choice than Obamugabe is the fact that he had private sector, public sector, AND “charitable” experience as an exec.
I still remember that Pence went wobbly knees on immigration during one of Jorge Bush’s amnesty pushes.
I could support him if he shows he has “evolved” to supporting enforcement of our immigration laws.
Much of what is going on here in Indiana is because of Mitch Daniels, Pence is doing a great job following his lead. He had a state served up on a silver platter when he took the reins here.
He still has some herd mentality from Washington to get out of his system imho before he shoots for the oval office, which I know he wants.
2020 would be a better window for him, let him get some more experience at the executive and state level first.
If you’re wondering why this otherwise prosaic Bloomberg piece about Pence’s national future begins with a mention of the Koch brothers, it’s probably because the guy who wrote it worked for Paul Sarbanes and, briefly, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz before resuming his career as an impartial reporter.I also don't want Christie to run, not quite for those reasons -- he's the best of the worst as that state's governor (it is NJ after all) and more to the point, I won't vote for a muzzie-coddling pro-amnesty gun-grabber. If he's put on the ticket as VP, to pull in fence-sitters, with, say, Ted Cruz for POTUS, that could work, since the VP doesn't have any real duties, merely gets assignments from the POTUS.
He could have been the guy but he isn’t out there campaigning and whacking the left around like Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin.
After 2008 I wanted him to do what Sarah Palin and Ted. Cruz are doing now, he could have made a name for himself for 2012 but he was too quiet. He is still not taking the lead smacking this administration and leftists around, why?
I had high hopes for this guy since Bam Bam was elected but I am still waiting to be excited
RE: He is still not taking the lead smacking this administration and leftists around, why?
The man, I think, is not a Political Leader in the Reaganesque sense. He is a quiet doer, a technocrat, administrator, manager if you will.
We need people like that in a conservative administration, but not as President.
Give him the job of dismantling it, let him use the old reinventor office Al Gore had
Me too. I do wish he would consider running for prez.
“Why not Gov. Mike Pence in 2016?”
Why not Allen West in 2016?
RE: Why not Allen West in 2016?
Because Pence has more legislative AND executive experience.
I’d take Col. West as Defense or HHS secretary in a Pence administration.
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