He tried to muffle his smoker’s cough and bowed his head. Sitting in a pew was Chuck Jones, the local United Steel Workers president. They lit candles and said prayers for the hundreds of jobs that were not being saved. Ten days later, dozens of Carrier workers and family members gathered at Mount Olive Ministries church in west Indianapolis as an icy rain pissed down outside. Resplendent in dark suit and striped tie, he remained ramrod-straight, a proud smile frozen on his face. The president-elect had just admitted he’d spaced on a major campaign promise and had only been reminded by a chance encounter on the nightly news!īut one man didn’t bat an eyelash. “And then they played my statement, and I said, ‘Carrier will never leave,'” said Trump with a rich man’s version of a laugh. It was not until he saw a Carrier worker talking about Trump saving his job on television that the president-elect decided to act. He spoke of his huge victory, and then admitted that his constant campaign talk of saving Carrier jobs had been bullshit. Then a strange thing happened well, not that strange, since it was Donald Trump. Pence introduced the man of the hour: “It is my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce to you a man of action, a man of his word, and the president-elect of the United States of America, Donald Trump.” Even Sarah Palin decried it as “crony capitalism.” Oh, yeah, and then Pence kicked in $7 million in state tax breaks. Critics say Carrier was now staying because it likely feared its $5 billion in federal contracts could be in peril under a vengeful Trump regime.

Much like the distortions and obfuscations that Pence used while defending Trump during the vice-presidential debate, this wasn’t remotely true: Carrier was moving the jobs because it could pay Mexican workers $6 an hour. “The simple truth was that policies coming out of our nation’s capital were literally driving jobs out of this country.” Based on what we know so far, Pence would need less defending than Trump’s other top options.“We met with the leaders of the company back in March, and try as we might to make the Indiana case, it was clear that the die was cast,” Pence said. It’s whether the nominee has to defend the running mate.

As I’ve said, the question isn’t about how the running mate does at defending the nominee. Some pundits thought Gingrich would be a stronger veep choice, because Gingrich - glib and shameless - would be unbridled at defending Trump.

Fellow Hoosier Dan Quayle looked OK on paper before he was selected, but he quickly turned out to be a dud. And we don’t know how Pence would actually perform on the campaign trail. And, no, Trump’s campaign can’t be trusted to have done a thorough job of vetting, even after hiring experienced Republican operatives for that purpose. The necessary caution with Pence is that the national media has not closely scrutinized him, so we won’t know yet what they and the Hillary Clinton campaign might turn up on him. Granted, it’s normal for a presidential nominee to give those assurances, but it’s a “normal” Trump has repeatedly fallen short of (such as in his continued attacks on New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, the chairwoman of the Republican Governors Association). In choosing him, Trump pays lip service at least to uniting the party. Pence, by contrast, endorsed Ted Cruz for the GOP nomination. He also, fairly or not, acquired a reputation over the last few months as a spineless lackey for Trump, an image that would have reinforced the impression that Trump couldn’t deal with independent politicians. Gingrich is unpopular, has a history of scandals, and proved himself awful at governing when he was House speaker for a brief period.Ĭhristie is unpopular in his home state and still has the bridge scandal kicking around. This is especially true when you compare Pence with the other finalists for the job. National media has not closely scrutinized Pence, so we won’t know yet what they and the Hillary Clinton campaign might turn up on him. And for the media and anyone else looking for evidence that Trump could act responsibly in office, Pence would fill that role. Moreover, for Republicans who are skeptical of Trump but open to being reassured that he’d be a normal Republican president, Pence is about as good a signal as Trump could possibly send. For the media and anyone else looking for evidence that Trump could act responsibly in office, Pence would fill that role. There’s no evidence voters care about such things. That’s to be expected for any mainstream conservative Trump might have picked. Yes, Pence has opposed several of Trump’s signature positions, including on trade. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

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Mike penc good choice