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July 15, 2016 09:30 AM UTC

Trump Picks Pence

  • 50 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

FRIDAY UPDATE #3: Colorado LGBT political leaders respond to Gov. Mike Pence’s selection:

“Mike Pence’s extreme record in Indiana is as damaging and divisive as Donald Trump’s record” said Congressman Jared Polis. “Pence’s personal leadership of a law that legalized discrimination against LGBT Americans was not only a moral embarrassment but also lost the Indiana economy millions of dollars in business and investments. Pence embodies exactly the same kind of divisiveness and intolerance as Donald Trump, and we cannot afford to have him a heartbeat away from the Presidency.”

“From Congress to the governor’s mansion, Mike Pence is a man who has worked his entire career to limit the rights of LGBT Americans,” said Colorado State Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman. “We simply can’t let that form of discrimination endure by having it embodied in the Vice President’s office.”

“Mike Pence is as extreme and dangerous as Donald Trump,” said former Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Mark Ferrandino, the first openly gay Speaker of the House. “He doesn’t believe that families like mine are entitled to the same rights and liberties as all other Americans. That type of hate has no place in the United States – and certainly not in the Vice President’s office.”

—–

Mike Pence, Donald Trump.
Mike Pence, Donald Trump.

FRIDAY UPDATE #2: LGBT advocacy group One Colorado decries Trump’s choice:

“Once again, Donald Trump has proven he is no friend to the LGBTQ community. From his opposition to the Supreme Court’s decision to bring the freedom to marry to all Americans, to his agreement with the staunchly anti-LGBTQ Republican platform, and now his nomination of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his Vice President, Trump continues to demonstrate his willingness to rollback the victories our community has made over the years.

“While in the Indiana legislature, Mike Pence co-sponsored an amendment to ban same-sex marriage and voted against the Employee Non-Discrimination Act, which would have made it illegal to fire someone just because of who they love. In Congress, Mike Pence voted against the repeal of the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy. Finally, as governor, Pence lost the state of Indiana $60 million in revenue after signing a broad religious exemption bill into law last year.

“Multiple legislative efforts to allow individuals and businesses to claim their religion gives them permission to ignore the law — similar to the bill Governor Pence signed in 2015 — were blocked in the last two years in Colorado thanks to the Democratic majority in the State House, and a coalition of businesses, chambers of commerce, faith leaders, law enforcement, and community organizations that came together to oppose them.

“With his announcement of Mike Pence as his running mate, Donald Trump has solidified his commitment to erasing the LGBTQ community’s advancements over the past several years. Trump has given us a sneak-peek of his vision for LGBTQ people in America and it is a future that looks dangerously like the past. We have come too far to see it all undone. We are better than this. America and Colorado are better than this.”

—–

FRIDAY UPDATE: It’s apparently official, that is Twitter official:

—–

UPDATE (6:20 pm): Check out these bullet points on the front page of the Washington Post: PenceWaPo

—–

UPDATE (6:00 pm): Er, maybe not? From Politico:

Donald Trump will postpone the announcement of his vice presidential pick due to an apparent terror attack in Nice, France. Trump was scheduled to announce and introduce his selection Friday morning in Manhattan, but he tweeted Thursday evening that he would postpone the event…

In an interview with Fox News this afternoon, Trump criticized President Obama’s handling of terrorism, then had this to say in regards to a question about Pence:

On his VP pick, the presumptive Republican nominee said, “I haven’t made my final, final decision.” [Pols emphasis]

Politico’s Eli Stokols, formerly of Fox 31 News in Denver, Tweeted the following in response:

It’s also worth noting that casino magnate and major Republican Party donor Sheldon Adelson is known to have been pushing for Newt Gingrich to be Trump’s running mate, so perhaps there is also some last-minute shouting taking place. —–

The Indianapolis Star breaking big news today:

Gov. Mike Pence is dropping his re-election bid in Indiana to become Donald Trump’s running mate. IndyStar has confirmed that Trump plans to announce Pence as his selection for vice president, ending a weeks-long vice presidential casting call during which Trump vetted a handful of high-profile Republicans. Trump’s national campaign spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said “a decision has not been made.” A formal announcement is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday in Manhattan. The long-awaited decision upends the political landscape in Indiana and at least partially remakes the Trump campaign in Pence’s image.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is a favorite of evangelical Christians after his stout defense of that state’s “religious freedom law”–a controversy that significantly damaged Pence’s reputation outside of the Christian political right. Pence’s image is therefore fundamentally at odds with Trump’s, who has tried to keep out of personal morality wedge issues even as he runs for the nomination of the Party of Personal Morality Wedge Issues™.

There is of course logic in selecting Pence just before next week’s Republican National Convention, as Pence may have enough stature among the party faithful to forestall an expected “Dump Trump” coup attempt. Beyond that moment, Pence is a bizarre muddling of Trump’s message–a sacrifice to the Republican rank-and-file that jeopardizes any support he might get from socially tolerant fiscal conservatives.

At this point, we think most of Trump’s goals…are short term.

Comments

50 thoughts on “Trump Picks Pence

  1. Pence is in trouble regarding his re-election bid. Even some of the more dense residents of my state of birth and growing up can figure out that the far out anti-gay agenda is bad for business. 

    I'm not a voter for Trump anyway. But Trump will likely lose some support among the fiscal conservatives who are more libertarian when it comes to the dreaded social issues. Of course, any advantage that might accrue to Hillary could be dissipated depending on her V-P choice. 

  2. RedState actually has a really cogent analysis about Pence and the VP candidacy:

    Pence knows that if he runs for re-election in Indiana, he is likely to lose. It is one thing to run in a year where it's Romney v. Obama – running in a year where Trump heads the Republican ticket, and given his own unpopularity, Pence knows that his chances of re-election are lower than 50/50. Pence still wants to have a chance at the title belt (Presidency) but he knows that an electoral loss in 2016 would greatly diminish his chances at that. Meanwhile, if he runs as Trump's VP, the loss would not necessarily be placed on his head but rather on Trump's.

    This is the only calculation that makes sense for Pence as to why he would join Trump's ticket as his running mate. Nobody else who has anything remotely valuable to lose politically is in the slightest bit interested in being on deck for the sinking of this particular ship. Pence, on the other hand, is facing a choice between trying to avert a loss on his own or hanging on to the coattails of someone else's loss and then throwing up his hands later and saying, "Well, it wasn't my fault I couldn't drag Trump across the line!"

    As Trump campaigns with Pence in Indiana tonight, and (probably) announces Pence as his running mate, just remember what it is the Pence is really doing here.

    http://www.redstate.com/leon_h_wolf/2016/07/12/mike-pence-chickening/

    Classic case of failing upward…

  3. Anxiously awaiting this afternoon's Moderatus missive telling you Democrats why you're now desperately cowering in fear of the 2016 Trumpence . . . 

  4. And another wonderful campaign ad is born.

    Quote of Trump saying he will be a champion for gay rights

    Block text on screen that reads 'then why did his VP pick do this…' followed by picture of Pence signing the LGBT discrimination bill

    I really don't know what's worse, how politically inept this guy is or the fact that his supporters just don't fucking care. 

  5. With Pence, I suppose there is a little less need for Elizabeth Warren on the D ticket. Pence does not pose quite the debate threat that a Christie or Gingrich would pose. Generally, HRC is pretty free now to pick whomever she wants. Trump has not boxed her in with his veep pick.

  6. Also bad news for Pence is that he only has until Noon today (Friday) to withdraw from the ballot for the Governor's office.  So he needs to know for sure one way or the other, regardless of when Trump makes the formal announcement.

    So this is what a Trump administration would be like — confusion, disarray, and endless waffling, leading to speculation and intrigue.  Media heaven but a national nightmare.

    1. With an underwater approval rating as Guv, he would probably prefer VP. If he loses his election as Guv, that's on him. If he's on a ticket with Trump and Trump loses it's on Trump. If he wants a political future that hurts him less. He could, of course, still win reelection as Guv but the downside of defeat probably makes it the less attractive option. Wonder if Trump even knows about Pence's deadline. I suppose Pence must have mentioned it to him?

      And who else is there besides the even deeper under water Christie? After Newt's insane statement that every single person here, presumably including second and third or more generation American citizens, of Muslim "descent" needs to be "tested" on whether they believe in Sharia law, I would hope that takes him out of contention even for Team Trump.

      How would that even work? Everyone who had grandparents who had immigrated from, say, Pakistan would be brought in for questioning?  Would they be collected in camps to await questioning during the years it would take to get every Muslim American through the process? Would they receive papers they'd have to  carry and show to prove they were "good" Muslim Americans?  Here in the United States under our Constitution? The man makes trump look benign by comparison.

      http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/trump-mike-pence-vice-president-225387

       

      1. Despite being borderline brilliant in some regards, Newt the Fruit has always had his dark side of stupidity.

        One Colorado may want to check their numbers. I've seen at least one account stating that Pence and his religious cronies may have cost the state up to $250 million, not 60.

      1. I couldn't watch that all the way through, Pseu.  One year, teaching in middle school, every.single.fricking.7th grade boy was Cornholio, and needing "TP for his bunghole".  Gahhh!

        It's what I imagine a Trump/Pence presidency would be like.

        1. So the logo possibilities are:

          1. Trump, his campaign staff, and Pence did not really think about this logo, and do not realize how suggestive it is.

          2. Trump, et al, realize the suggestion, and they like it. This would fit with Trump's persona and the multiple accusations of rape against him. But what does Pence think about it? Did Pence OK the logo? What does that say about him? Is he just another homophobe with closeted same-sex yearnings?

          3. Are they really going to put this on a bumper sticker? Will the Cervis paint it on their giant Trump signs? "Mommy, what is that T doing to the P?" As a tweet in this hilarious NSFW compendium of logo reaction says,

          This logo is not welcome in certain Indiana pizzarias pic.twitter.com/GGcH1TXUm3

          — Sam Baker (@sam_baker) July 15, 2016

           

           

  7. What a flaming heap this whole thing was!

    Announcement was scheduled for Friday. Then the news media got a hold of the nominee's name before the announcement was made. And a confirmation by Pence flying in to the NY area (this part often happens; the media's all over VP candidate movements…). Then "we're postponing the announcement due to Nice." Except that Pence had to file for re-election to the Indiana governor's office by noon Friday, and failure to do so would have been final confirmation. So Trump Tweets the announcement (!?*?!), losing whatever value he might have gotten from a formal joint appearance.

     

    1. And then it gets pushed to the back burner because of the coup attempt in Turkey (looks like it failed).  His big ballyhooed attack speech on Mrs. Clinton got preempted by the shooting in Orlando.  World events seem to be conspiring to take the light off his political extravaganzas.

    1. My right wing alter ego got a text from Trump announcing Pence as VP at 1 pm today. Don't know where that lined up in the clusterF*** of bungled announcements, but my AE is a Trump "follower".

      1. That was #5

        5. Trump also failed to send a mass text to his supporters after promising they’d “be the first to know the VP.” A page on Trump’s website allowed supporters to sign up and receive notifications. It appears to have been turned into a fundraising page, but not before Goldmacher took a screenshot.

        View image on Twitter

        View image on Twitter

         Follow

        Shane Goldmacher ✔@ShaneGoldmacher

        12) Follow up on his promise to text supporters the newshttps://www.donaldjtrump.com/vp-alert 

        9:33 AM – 15 Jul 2016

         

         7373 Retweets

         

         101101 likes

            1. Maybe not as much as you might think.  You are smooth, consistent and on point with just about everything that's wrong with the party while I'm erratic, mercurial and prone to let fly with profanity laced outbursts over slights to what's right with the party.

              The capper is that we are both deep in our souls are grateful that we have been spared the writers nightmare of churning out mindless, zombie comments like the Modster.  Thank you baby Jesus that I don't have that shallow and dull a brain stem.

    1. AP and CNN reporters tweeting today that Hickenlooper met with HRC at her house today to talk veep. Seriously? Why?  –

      Because, Flatiron, After the year we've had, America's Democrats deserve  a good laugh, that's why!

      1. Let's hope not. He doesn't bring her anything she needs. Colorado is one place she's doing just fine. It would completely piss off not just the Bernie wing but all of us who support her but like Bernie and what he and his troops are doing.

        1. Someone said yesterday that Drumpf choosing Pence pretty much left Clinton free to choose any fool she wanted . . . 

          . . . maybe she's thinking about giving that theory a test?

    2. Because she thinks she needs a Blue Dog Democrat to draw in disaffected Republican voters?!? 

      I'd be more worried about losing disaffected Progressive Democrats if I were her.

      1. Tome, Hick is less a blue dog than a mugwump.  On the death penalty, he pissed off both sides by staying the execution of a notorious mass murderer but not commuting the     sentence, so that a future pro death penalty gov could execute him.

    3. Because she's the history-making candidate and isn't interested in her VP taking away from that.  She already has a rock-star right hand, the first gentleman, and needs a good soldier to VP just enough to not be embarrassing, but not so much as to detract from her focus as leader.  I think, also, because she expects she, as the candidate, already draws about as much support from any potential constituency that she might target with a pick as she would by picking someone from that community.

    1. Nothing endears Chuck and Dave to a lackey more than the bio…"He/she does what he/she is told"….I submit our own junior senator as a case in point.

      Pence will fall on his own sword if given that instruction.

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