More than Trump’s Vice President: Pence Touts Time as Governor, US Congressman | WGN Radio 720

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Mike Pence is best known as Donald Trump’s Vice President. Aside from dramatically rebuffing his boss’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election, he’s adamantly loyal and almost undisputed No. 1 role. is the person who served No. 2 in eight years in the White House.

But as Pence nears a potential run for president in 2024, he’ll be projecting his conservative fighter record and revealing to audiences about parts of his career before serving as Trump’s vice president. I hope Governor of Indiana.

While traveling the country and visiting early nominee states such as Iowa, Pence does not hide his time in the former president’s White House. It shows his efforts to flesh out his profile as he nears taking on Trump himself. I want you to

“I’m well-known, but not very well-known,” he said in an interview this week.

“If we choose to run, we will have ample opportunity to show who we are,” he said. That was after he met with Republican activists from eastern Iowa in his Cedar Rapids. He blamed “the fact that I fought for conservative principles against my own party’s leaders when I was in Congress, the fact that we advanced a strong conservative agenda as governors.” I am referring to

Amid political stagnation, Pence takes the lead in boosting Trump’s agenda, which remains popular among Republicans despite saying the country is calling for “new leadership.” doing. During a stop in the Des Moines area and Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, Pence linked his own record to Republican priorities today as an Indiana congressman and later as governor of Indiana.

He returned to an ambitious six-term term as Congressman, pointing out his opposition to expanding Medicare to provide prescription drugs, endorsed by President George W. Bush and most Republicans. said it was an intractable right, even though it was

This is consistent with Pence’s call for a review of the eligibility program for young adults. Without that change, Pence said as he stopped for breakfast at the West Side Conservative Club outside Des Moines, “Within 30 years our country will be in the greatest debt the world has ever seen.” We may face it,” he said.

Later in Cedar Rapids, he applauded Republican Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds for signing a sweeping school choice bill, noting that the governor himself had doubled Indiana’s charter school program. Education has gained new political repercussions in recent years, with conservative parents seeking more control, especially over policies related to race education and gender.

The insistence by some Iowa Republicans that Pence is still responsible for the party dominated by the former president underscores a new line of building his political biography.

Alan Ecklund, former chairman of the Republican Party in Crawford County, Iowa, who said he liked Pence, said: “Trump supporters will not like the fact that he’s now at odds with the president. ‘ said. “On the other hand, some people who are not Trump supporters may see him as a Trump supporter.”

Barbara Shaben, who attended Pence’s event in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, was the first in Congress to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood, a regular target of abortion rights opponents. Likewise, she was unfamiliar with expanding adoption access in Indiana, a priority for abortion rights opponents like Pence.

“I like him and am completely connected with his deep feelings of faith,” said Schoeben, a 64-year-old graphic designer. “I’ve been wanting to hear more from him about his record, and I’m glad I did.”

Still, Pence finds himself in a difficult position even before he enters the race.

He is viewed unfavorably by 26% of Iowa Republicans, according to the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll in early March. That’s a higher rating than Trump, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, who has already announced his bid, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to run.

The findings are similar to party sentiment across the country for Pence. A Quinnipiac University poll conducted last month showed that 32% of Republicans nationwide viewed him unfavorably, which was worse than Trump, DeSantis and Haley.

Pence on Wednesday dismissed the results of the poll, but admitted there was work to be done to provide voters with a more complete picture of his career.

“Since my book was published, long before I became vice president, I’ve had the opportunity to really talk about our background, our experiences, our family, my career, so I’ve spent the past six months thinking about what I’ve been up to. “I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m well-known, but not very well-known,” he said in an interview.

Wednesday’s visit was Pence’s eighth trip to Iowa since the 2020 election. Republican activists in the state describe him as a respected social conservative, possibly lacking the charm of some of his potential rivals.

“People have a lot of respect for him and they seem to know he’s a good guy,” said Ginita McNulty, Republican chairman of Scott County, a minimetro area in eastern Iowa on the Mississippi River.

Tony Shepherd, who owns a popular steak restaurant near the Des Moines airport, said Pence looked “very sincere” at a breakfast event in the Western Suburbs.

“He’s been very reassuring,” said Ankeny’s 47-year-old Shepard. “You just don’t see a lot of charisma.”

Others think that no matter how Pence tries to introduce himself, he can’t separate the Trump era.

Anne Trimble-Ray, a veteran Republican activist from conservative northwestern Iowa, said Pence’s years under Trump were unlike anything she’d endorsed, and at the state’s major presidential caucus. has stated that she will disqualify him from her endorsement of the

“My take on Mr. Pence is that it’s an associative guilt, a big problem for non-Trumpers,” said Trimble Ray, a longtime ally of former Rep. Steve King.

Such impressions seem to have had little effect on Pence’s deliberations.

More than a decade ago, he considered running for president, but “wasn’t ready,” he said in an interview.

But now?

“For four years I was standing next to work. I was going to be ready every day for four years,” Pence said. If I were to hold that position in the future, I would be ready to serve.

https://wgnradio.com/news/political-news/not-just-trumps-vp-pence-touts-time-as-governor-us-rep/ More than Trump’s Vice President: Pence Touts Time as Governor, US Congressman | WGN Radio 720

Exit mobile version