Someone put a picture of Mike Pence on a milk carton.
The Indiana governor may not have been kidnapped, but he certainly can’t answer the key question facing the Republican Party: Are you with Trump or against him?
Pence, of course, is not alone on the sidelines. But the throng of wet-fingered politicians trying to figure out which way the wind is blowing doesn’t matter. Pence does. If Donald Trump loses the Indiana primary on May 3, it’s almost certain he won’t win the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination in the first round of voting. Indiana is now the Vienna Gateway to Trump’s takeover of the GOP.
So Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz have struck an admittedly awkward and somewhat unsightly deal to coordinate their campaigns in an effort to prevent Trump from winning. Kasich is dropping out of the race in Indiana, and Cruz is clearing the way for Kasich in New Mexico and Oregon. Kasich stumbled almost immediately as he tried to stick to the deal, but it remains as close to a united front against the longtime Democrat-turned-Republican challenger as is possible.
And where is Pence, longtime advocate of conservative courage? In his bunker, insisting he is “for anyone but Hillary and Bernie Sanders.”
To be fair, Pence is in trouble because he is running for re-election in 2016, and the beleaguered Hoosier feels he can’t afford to turn off any GOP voters. Boo.
If the current polls are even remotely correct, Trump would suffer a defeat of biblical proportions in November. His standing with women is so low that he’s even putting automatic Republican states like Mississippi and Utah into play. He’s deeply unpopular with adolescent voters—17 percent have a favorable view of him in the latest Harvard Public Opinion Project poll. Only 37 percent of adolescent Republicans view him favorably.
Trump’s up-to-date de facto campaign manager, Paul Manafort, recently told other Republican insiders not to worry. All of this can be overcome, because Trump’s weaknesses reflect only “personality” problems, while Clinton’s weaknesses reflect “character” problems. “Fixing personality flaws is a lot easier than fixing character flaws,” Manafort said. “You can’t change someone’s character, but you can change the way someone presents themselves.”
Granted, it’s possible that personality and character are not synonymous in voters’ minds. But the notion that Trump — a controversial, thrice-married, admittedly adulterous adulterer with a history of selling snake oil products, among other questionable business practices — doesn’t have any character issues has to make Clinton’s opposition research team spit lattes out of their noses.
Trump claims he can start acting “presidential” with the flip of a switch, but does anyone not infatuated with the Trump Kool-Aid really think that’s possible?
Pence is certainly aware of Trump’s negative traits. But what he may not have considered is that if Trump loses the popular vote by a landslide, the recriminations will be fierce. The autopsies will undoubtedly focus on who had the chance to stop Trump when they could have. Among the first in the dock: Hamlet Hoosiers.
Most conservatives in Indiana have already sided with Cruz. Curt Smith, president of the Indiana Family Institute, told the Washington Examiner that Pence would “secure his base” by endorsing Cruz, a move that would give Cruz a gigantic advantage because Pence’s campaign is well-organized locally. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker helped Cruz win a landslide victory there last month. It’s unlikely he’ll regret that decision in the future.
Of course, one must also support Cruz on his substantive grounds.
As I’ve said for months, the Republican primary season will end in tears no matter what. If Trump is nominated, many conservatives will stay home or vote for a third-party candidate. If he’s not nominated, many Trump supporters will stay home. So why not go back to principle and pick a side?
Pence has spent his career building a reputation as a principled, full-spectrum conservative with a populist’s disdain for D.C. Beltway games. In other words, he is ideologically aligned with Cruz. With Kasich out of Indiana, Pence can no longer claim that voters don’t face tough choices. It’s time for him to show the courage of his convictions.
