Mike Pence is the Right Choice
In what seemed like the never ending saga of nominating a GOP presidential candidate, on Tuesday night, the Republican party said, “I do” to real estate mogul Donald Trump. The path to the nomination for Trump was wrought with fury, anger, and uprising from some members (I’m looking at you, #NeverTrump) of the Republican party; Trump managed to maintain a firm grasp on the America’s attention span and dominated the news cycle at every turn.
Now the real work begins. According to a new poll by NBC News|SurveyMonkey Clinton leads Trump by a razor thin margin, 46 percent to 45 percent. While polls can fluctuate, this race will be a photo finish. With 110 days until Election Day, both Clinton and Trump have their work cut out for them. Clinton will have to work bring in Bernie supporters and will vie to chip away at independent voters, while Trump will have to leverage his newly appointed Vice President, Indiana Governor Mike Pence to reach Cruz supporters and target Republicans who were hoping for a more seasoned presidential candidate.
It is apparent, one of Trump’s biggest hurdles, will be is his likability factor. For better or worse, Trump’s shock and awe campaign has sent shock waves through the entire Republican party and has caused some GOP members to say, “Bye, Felicia.” At this point in the election cycle, with a little over three months left, Trump’s polarizing ways will have to be overcome if Republicans want America to say, you’re hired on Election day. In an interview over the weekend, Trump mentioned one of the biggest reasons he chose Mike Pence was party unity. There is little doubt Trump’s campaign is hoping Pence will be able to smooth out the rough edges on the top of the ticket, and quell the concerns some Republicans have with Trump as the nominee.
The biggest obstacle the Trump/Pence ticket will have is going to be introducing Pence to the average voter. After being named as Trump’s Vice President, pollsters went to work and found voters who identify as “very conservative—43 percent—said they don’t know enough to say whether Pence was a good or bad choice.” Done correctly, this has the potential to play well for Trump. Pence does well with Conservatives, and has served as Indiana’s Governor since 2013 giving him the appeal for party elites and is well liked among the religious Right, which has been a tough crowd for Trump to please.
Pence has public service experience both as the governor of a much needed state to win and as a congressman where he sponsored the first House bill to defund Planned Parenthood which passed in 2011. For diehard conservatives, Pence is the answer to their Trump concerns. But for social moderates, it is going to take more than a wink and nod to woo them into voting Trump/Pence on November 8th.
Pence’s devout religious leanings have caused some strife among the LGBTQ community in the Hoosier state, and for the socially liberal faction of the Republican party they’re still on the fence. In 2015, Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which a law that several businesses panned as allowing for the discrimination of gays and lesbians. After serious backlash, Pence “signed a measure “clarifying” that the law does not authorize businesses to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.” Pence’s ability to walk back a mistake on a bill that catapulted him into the national spotlight and a year later be tapped as Trump’s Vice President makes him the equivalent of a cat with nine lives in the political arena.
Pence, who continually describes himself as a “Christian, a conservative and a Republican — in that order” brings the conviction of religious beliefs, not seen by Trump, which many would argue, will help even out the extremist nature of Trump’s campaign. Above all, Pence brings his voting record to the election and for people who have been longing for some predictability in their Republican ticket, they can all breathe a sigh of relief.
As the days begin to dwindle on what seemed like an election day that would never come, Trump/Pence will have to work overtime to prove they are the right ticket to make America great again, and according to my magic 8ball, the outlook is good.