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Some home state Republicans would be glad to see the Indiana governor abandon his re-election bid for a VP slot.
In his single term as governor of Indiana, Mike Pence has slashed taxes, enacted conservative health care reforms, tightened abortion restrictions and boasted deep support among the lucrative political network of Charles and David Koch.
Even so, there are plenty of Republicans in his home state who would be glad to see him abandon his re-election campaign to serve as Donald Trump’s running mate.
A firestorm around a 2015 law known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act placed the state center stage in the culture wars, leading to intense backlash from the business community. The Indiana Chamber of Commerce called the law “a tremendous hit” to Indiana’s “national identity as a welcoming and hospitable state,” and Pence delivered a memorably bad performance on ABC’s “This Week,” in which he declined to answer whether or not it should be legal to discriminate against gays and lesbians.
He was also embarrassed by — and forced to abandon — a plan to create a state-run news service, an idea that drew national ridicule. All of it took place against the backdrop of rumblings that Pence had ambitions of his own for the Oval Office.
“Gov. Pence got hurt, obviously, with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act fight,” said Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, a Republican and Pence supporter, referring to the controversial law that critics contended would have allowed discrimination against LGBT people. “The fact is there was some damage done there to him.”
But Pence’s willingness to fight those culture wars may be exactly what makes him an attractive candidate to Trump, who lacks social conservative bona fides. He also spent more than a decade in Congress, rising to a leadership role.
“What people are criticizing Pence for in Indiana is actually something that makes him valuable to the Trump ticket,” said Andrew Downs, director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics. “His stance on things like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana, as well as his stance on civil rights legislation in Indiana, those are things people are criticizing but they actually are things that help solidify social conservatives within the Republican Party.”
By Matthew Nussbaum
In his single term as governor of Indiana, Mike Pence has slashed taxes, enacted conservative health care reforms, tightened abortion restrictions and boasted deep support among the lucrative political network of Charles and David Koch.
Even so, there are plenty of Republicans in his home state who would be glad to see him abandon his re-election campaign to serve as Donald Trump’s running mate.
A firestorm around a 2015 law known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act placed the state center stage in the culture wars, leading to intense backlash from the business community. The Indiana Chamber of Commerce called the law “a tremendous hit” to Indiana’s “national identity as a welcoming and hospitable state,” and Pence delivered a memorably bad performance on ABC’s “This Week,” in which he declined to answer whether or not it should be legal to discriminate against gays and lesbians.
He was also embarrassed by — and forced to abandon — a plan to create a state-run news service, an idea that drew national ridicule. All of it took place against the backdrop of rumblings that Pence had ambitions of his own for the Oval Office.
“Gov. Pence got hurt, obviously, with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act fight,” said Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, a Republican and Pence supporter, referring to the controversial law that critics contended would have allowed discrimination against LGBT people. “The fact is there was some damage done there to him.”
But Pence’s willingness to fight those culture wars may be exactly what makes him an attractive candidate to Trump, who lacks social conservative bona fides. He also spent more than a decade in Congress, rising to a leadership role.
“What people are criticizing Pence for in Indiana is actually something that makes him valuable to the Trump ticket,” said Andrew Downs, director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics. “His stance on things like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana, as well as his stance on civil rights legislation in Indiana, those are things people are criticizing but they actually are things that help solidify social conservatives within the Republican Party.”
By Matthew Nussbaum
