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Mike Pence made the decision before the 2012 election to run for governor rather than pursue re-election to Congress. I reported it as a choice between those two options. But after his declaration, Pence told me he wanted to make it clear that it was a three-way consideration from his point of view. He was also pondering a run for president.
In 2012. Against Barack Obama.
I dismissed his take because, frankly, I didn’t think he had the gravitas to be president. My opinion has not changed. Neither has Pence’s ambition.
I’m writing this on the day Pence is kicking off his 2024 run for the GOP presidential nomination.
Assuming that he is still in the race when this gets published, let me lay out things I will watch for during the Pence campaign.
Can he perform on the presidential stage?
One of the lessons that advisers to Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar learned in his 1996 bid for the White House was that there is a Hollywood element to presidential politics that Lugar couldn’t produce. Pence likes to compare himself to former actor Ronald Reagan and even does something of a Reagan imitation at times. Will that work?
Also as governor, Pence didn’t use a teleprompter in his first two State of the State addresses. Is he comfortable with the performance aspects of a national race? Don’t tell me that he did it as Donald Trump’s running mate in 2016 because Trump stole the spotlight throughout.
Can he come up with his own campaign tactics? In that 2012 run for governor, Pence traveled the state in a red pickup truck. It was a variation on the Mitch Daniels’ campaign RV. Now, Pence is posing on a Harley Davidson wearing leather in a more direct steal of a Daniels tactic.
Will he get some fashion advice?
Pence always looks uncomfortable in casual clothes. His color choices are sometimes lacking. Somebody help him.
Can he make the right policy choices? Remember RFRA? Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as governor and stirred controversy that almost caused the NCAA to move a Final Four from Indianapolis. He backed down in the face of corporate pressure but damaged his reputation in the process.
Will evangelicals support him?
They have choices. Is his opposition to abortion outside the mainstream, even for GOP primary voters?
Will he go toe-to-toe with Donald Trump?
Chris Christie is calling Trump out. He says it’s not just how he feels but also the way to win. Pence seeks to separate himself from Trump and suggests that his old running mate is unfit for office. But will the guy who once swore off negative campaigning be able to hold up to Trump insults on a debate stage?
Will the media pay attention?
My lasting memory of the Lugar campaign is a media cluster in New Hampshire with the Indiana senator surrounded by Hoosier reporters while, yards away, the national media surrounded Bob Dole.
Can he overcome history?
Pence is the sixth Hoosier to serve as vice president. Charles Fairbanks, Thomas Hendricks, Schuyler Colfax, Dan Quayle and Thomas Marshall all failed to become president.
The polls (and donors who read the polls) will determine how long Pence stays in the race. I predict he won’t be around long enough for actual primary voters to pass judgment on his candidacy.•
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Shella hosted WFYI’s “Indiana Week in Review” for 25 years and covered Indiana politics for WISH-TV for more than three decades. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.
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A friend finally told of the person Pense reminded her of, and it was perfect.
Mike Pence always looks like he’s putting on the act of a serious candidate – he puts on his glasses, furrows the brows, tilts his heat, does his best to look earnest and concerned, utters platitudes and generalizations, AND comes off as the very shallow, in-over-his-head Ted Baxtor on the old Mary Tyler Moore Show.
That’s the perfect comparison. Now I’ll always see Baxtor when looking at Pence. .
Although I don’t agree with his most conservative views, other than Niki Haley he will be the most qualified person in the race. That includes our current White House.