Pence doesn’t make up for Trump’s shortcomings
When assessing a candidate for the vice presidency, the normal routine is to consider one question above all others: Is this person fit to assume the presidency at a moment’s notice?
That remains by far the most important qualification. But in the craziness that is this year’s Republican Party, a second question should also be asked: Can this person make up for the deficiencies of the presumptive nominee, Donald Trump?
If the choice is Indiana Gov. Mike Pence — the man Trump was expected to introduce Friday as his running mate, before postponing the announcement because of the attack in southern France — the answer to question No. 1 is a qualified yes. The answer to question No. 2 is an unqualified no.
Pence is a reasonably experienced, sober-minded conservative who plausibly meets the “Marine One” test of being able to step into the presidential helicopter at a moment of national crisis. Having served 12 years in Congress, he knows his way around Washington. And, as Indiana’s governor since early 2013, he has executive experience running something bigger than his mouth or his own office.
If he’s selected, Pence will not be to everyone’s liking.
Liberals and moderates won’t like that he is a social and fiscal conservative who has cut taxes, backed highly restrictive abortion legislation, and signed Indiana’s controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a measure that rightfully generated strong objections as it provided a religious basis for denying service to people based on sexual orientation.
Religious conservatives won’t like that he agreed to revise the religious freedom law after a backlash from the public and businesses, and that he supported Common Core education standards. Budget-focused conservatives won’t like that he expanded Medicaid as part of Obamacare. And Trump’s base might object to Pence’s pro-trade voting record and attacks on Trump’s proposed Muslim ban.
But the Indiana governor is arguably the best choice among the limited field of Republicans willing to take the job. He is less of a loose cannon than the other finalists for the job, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. “I’m a conservative,” Pence likes to say, “but I’m not angry about it.”
Assuming Trump follows through with a Pence pick, the choice will show that the nominee is willing to listen to his political advisers and forgive someone who endorsed, tepidly, Republican primary rival Ted Cruz. But whatever Pence’s strengths and weaknesses, he does not make up for Trump’s shortcomings. In fact, no one can.
No amount of foreign policy experience on a running mate’s part can make up for the fact Trump knows little about world affairs yet believes he is a master statesman. No amount of prudence can overcome Trump’s temperamental defects. And not even a long record of sensible governance can offset Trump’s racially, ethnically and religiously divisive brand of politics.
Whomever Trump picks as his running mate, the problem with this year’s Republican ticket won’t be the vice presidential candidate. It’s the guy at the top.