Fresh off being tapped as Donald Trump’s vice presidential candidate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence urged voters Saturday to “join us” in their campaign against Hillary Clinton, saying the presumptive Democratic nominee “personifies the failed establishment in Washington, D.C.”
Mr. Pence said the choice in the November election is clear, and warned Mrs. Clinton will appoint Supreme Court justices who “will legislate from the bench, abandon the sanctity of life and rewrite our Second Amendment.”
“To every American who shares our convictions, I say to you, ’Join us,’” Mr. Pence said during the press conference in New York City.
“For the sake of our security, for the sake of our prosperity, for the sake of a Supreme Court who will never turn its back on our God-given liberties, let’s come together as a party and a people and a movement to ’Make America Great Again’ and that day begins when Donald Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States of America,” the 57-year-old said.
For his part, Mr. Trump praised the economic and fiscal record Mr. Pence has compiled as governor of Indiana, and described his “partner in this campaign” as a better person than Mrs. Clinton.
“Mike Pence is man of honor, character and honesty,” Mr. Trump said. “Hillary Clinton is the embodiment of corruption.”
“What a difference between crooked Hillary Clinton and Mike Pence,” he said.
The selection of Mr. Pence, a former six-term member of Congress who is well-liked in conservative circles, has been widely viewed as a step toward balancing out a ticket that had lacked governing chops and also a way to boost the faith of some Republicans who have been wary of Mr. Trump’s unconventional candidacy.
The move comes days after the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign teamed up to effectively end a last ditch effort to steer the nomination away from Mr. Trump at the convention, which kicks off on Monday in Cleveland.
Standing before a podium that read: “TRUMP New York, New York,” Mr. Trump gloated over how the #neverTrump movement got “crushed” this week and said he picked Mr. Pence in part to unify the party.
“He fights for the people and he is going to fight for you,” the 70-year-old said.
Mr. Pence, a pro-life Christian, returned the compliment by heaping praise on Mr. Trump and his family and likening him to President Ronald Reagan, a conservative icon.
“Donald Trump understands the frustration and the hopes of the American people like no leader since Ronald Reagan,” Mr. Pence said.
“As Ronald Reagan said, we are tired of being told that a little intellectual elite in a far distant capital can plan our lives better for us than we can plan them for ourselves,” the 57-year-old said at a press conference in New York. “Donald Trump gets it and he understands the American people.”
Mr. Pence touted the resume he compiled as a member of Congress, where he voted against President Bush’s No Child Left Behind education law and Medicare Prescription Part D prescription drug program, which critics say added a massive entitlement program to the government.
The drug program was supported by an overwhelming majority of Mr. Pence’s fellow Republicans in Congress, including then-Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who has since risen to become speaker of the House.
Political observers said Mr. Pence helps fill some of the gaps in Mr. Trump’s political game.
“A social and economic conservative with strong religious views and think-tank credentials, Pence could conceivably shore up some of Trump’s weaknesses among certain strands of the GOP base and some ideologically-committed conservatives inside and outside the Beltway,” the political gurus at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics wrote before the announcement. “Pence also fits Trump’s oft-mentioned preference for a running mate who knows politics.”
The Center for Politics analysis, though, also questioned how much Mr. Pence could strengthen Mr. Trump hand given how he has already consolidated close to 80 percent of evangelical voters and that Mr. Pence is not well-known in the Rust Belt states that are shaping up to be must-wins for Mr. Trump.
Mr. Pence and Mr. Trump also have held different views on trade and the Iraq War. Mr. Pence also opposed Mr. Trump’s calls for a Muslim ban.
Others have questioned whether the choice of Mr. Pence, who came under fire for supporting a “religious freedom” effort that was perceived by many as anti-gay, will reinforce the idea that the GOP is an old white guy’s club - something the party hoped to move away from following the 2012 election, where minority voters helped power President Obama to a second term.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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