Mike Pence tosses out a now well-honed line whenever he’s asked how he could go from loyally defending Donald Trump to throwing spears at him on the debate stage.
“I’ve debated Donald Trump a thousand times,” he said in Indianapolis at a gathering for state lawmakers at the National Conference of State Legislatures here Wednesday. “Just not in front of the cameras.”
The former vice president was answering an audience member’s question about how he would win over skeptical Trump backers at the first GOP debate. In Milwaukee next week, he may get that chance — one that he studiously avoided for four years of never breaking publicly with the former president. During their tenure together, Pence during one 2018 meeting went so far as to sync putting down his water bottle almost simultaneously with Trump, and in one Cabinet meeting praised Trump once every 12 seconds for three minutes.
Now, Pence is relishing the opportunity to draw a contrast with Trump according to two senior aides and two longtime friends and allies.
“We’re ready,” Marc Short, Pence’s senior adviser, told me. “It’s let’s-get-it-on time. We’ve been waiting for this for a while.”
Good Thursday morning, and welcome back to IMPORTANTVILLE. Every time Pence has an event in Indianapolis these days, it seems like he’s responding to another Trump indictment.
YOUNG GETS IT DONE
Sen. Todd Young may have made news this week by saying—again—that the GOP needs to elect a non-Trump candidate “who can win.”
But under the radar, all across the state, Young is working to get his fellow Republicans elected. He’s spending part of the August Congressional recess to campaign for GOP candidates around the state. Last week, Young raised $30,000 for Carmel mayoral candidate Sue Finkham’s campaign and Young’s event in Evansville for Mayoral candidate Natalie Rascher last week raised $35,000. Yesterday, he was in Marion for a community roundtable with Ronald Morrell, Jr. and last night in Ft. Wayne for a Tom Didier for Mayor fundraising event expected to raise $70,000. Next month, Young will be headlining events for State Rep. Ed Clere’s mayoral campaign in New Albany and Jefferson Shreve in Indianapolis.
IMPORTANTVILLE READS
“Why Not Pence?,” by The Atlantic’s Jonathan Rauch
The Republican Party’s strongest alternative to former President Donald Trump is in trouble. Trumpy Republicans want the real thing, not an imitation. Non-Trumpy Republicans just aren’t impressed. The candidate himself has yet to find a compelling message. The result is that once again, as in 2016, Trump is likely to prevail because Republicans cannot coalesce around an alternative—even though a candidate who is experienced in government, solidly conservative, and acceptable to most factions of the party is right there in front of them.
I speak, of course, of former Vice President Mike Pence.
“U.S. Transportation Secretary Buttigieg talks port challenges with Anchorage officials,” by Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin
Mayor Dave Bronson said he was happy for the opportunity to present the secretary with his list of requests, which include that the federal government pay for 60% of the project. Bronson, who has anchored much of his agenda on the conservative side of the cultural divide, said Buttigieg’s pioneering status in the LGBT community is irrelevant, in his view.
“Why would I care? My thing is he’s doing his job,” Bronson said. “He’s committed to helping Anchorage, helping Alaska, with where we have needs and that’s what matters to me.”