Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his vice president running mate July 15. The announcement eliminated speculation about Newt Gingrich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as possible candidates.
This move is seen by some as a way for Trump, who campaigned as an anti-establishment outsider, to attract traditional conservative voters who might have supported Senators Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio during the primaries, for example.
Unfortunately for the GOP, many policy differences between Trump and Pence have already emerged. Some reports also indicate the Republican nominee was having second thoughts after selecting the Indiana governor.
“I don’t put much stock in those, other than no one quite knows what it is Donald Trump is thinking about from moment to moment,” said professor Leslie Lenkowsky, who was appointed by president George W. Bush in 2001 as CEO of the Corporation for National Community Service, which seeks to improve local United States communities, and is now a professor of practice in public affairs and philanthropy at IU.
Lee Hamilton, who served as the Democratic Representative for Indiana’s 9th district from 1965 to 1999, and is now a professor of practice at IU’s School of Global and International Studies, also agreed.
“It looks as if he had doubts from an outsider’s point of view, but I can’t really judge that,” he said.
Among many of the controversial and inflammatory remarks Trump made during the primaries, one of them was the proposed ban on all Muslim immigrants, which Pence denounced on Twitter as being “offensive and unconstitutional.”
“Trump has a problem with social conservatives because of his various statements,” Hamilton said.
However, he also said Pence broadens Trump’s appeal among social conservatives.
“Pence is a generic Republican, quite conservative,” he said. “He’s not going to attract a lot of independent or Democratic-leaning voters.”
Lenkowsky, on the other hand, is more enthusiastic about Trump’s VP.
“The choice of Mike Pence is the choice of somebody who is very dependable, who’s not going to add to the problems that the ticket already has,” he said.
During the primary season, Trump attacked presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for her vote on the Iraq War, despite also being on the record of saying “Yeah, I guess so,” in 2002, when Howard Stern asked him if he supported Bush’s plan to invade the country, and her support for various free trade deals, two views Mike Pence has also shared.
“I think most people understand that being consistent when the facts have changed is not a good thing,” Lenkowsky said.
He also said Pence can come out and said he was open to changing his mind in the face of new information, without sounding hypocritical.
Hamilton did not share this opinion. He said if Pence comes out against the Iraq War, he will appear to flip-flop, but if he doubles down, he will have trouble defending his case, concluding that “Obviously it puts Pence in a difficult spot.”
“These are big time differences confronting the electorate,” Hamilton said. “Republicans have a really difficult situation to deal with, and I have some sympathy for them.”
Both Lenkowsky and Hamilton said Pence was the best choice between Gingrich and Christie.
“Everybody should start to focus on the issues,” Lenkowsky said. “It’s all good to say you’re the ‘Law and Order’ candidate, but what are you going to do?”
He said he considers the increasing threat of terror around the world a great issue, and also said he would like to see pro-jobs, pro-growth policies to stimulate the economy.
“He does not send off any alarms on the ticket, except on the problem of differences with Trump,” Hamilton said. “I think Pence is a very nice person and I consider him a friend. Our differences are political, but not personal.”
