Donald Trump may have rescued Mike Pence from a political ditch after a battle over religious freedom last year damaged his prospects at home.
Indiana’s governor, who was announced as Trump’s vice presidential pick on Friday, faced tough re-election prospects after his handling — or mishandling — of a bill allowing businesses to cite religious freedom as a legal defense when fending off a lawsuit. Pence initially signed the legislation, but under a national flood of criticism he later amended it to clarify it can’t be used to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
In doing so, Pence frustrated conservatives while failing to appease liberals. The most recent Indiana polls showed him leading Democrat John Gregg only slightly, with just 36 percent of voters saying he should be re-elected.
The kerfuffle, which drew widespread attention, led to speculation that Pence’s 2016 prospects were ruined. Politico ran an article entitled “The Week Mike Pence’s 2016 Dreams Crumbled.” Last May, Pence announced he’d seek re-election as governor instead of running for president.
But now, Pence might be back in the good graces of social conservatives, who have largely determined that they’ll need to support Trump if they want a president who will nominate conservatives to the Supreme Court and oppose abortion and gay rights.
“Mike Pence is a pro-life trailblazer and Mr. Trump could not have made a better choice,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Majorie Dannenfelser, adding that the selection makes her more confident Trump will uphold his promises to fight abortion.
“Picking Mike Pence as his running mate may be the best decision Donald Trump has made thus far in his campaign,” said Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins. “The pro-life movement should be thrilled with this pick.”
To social conservatives, Pence’s walk back on the religious freedom bill was just one black mark among many other moves he’s made to defund Planned Parenthood and place more limits on abortion.
Pence has a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee from the decade he spent in Congress. He was primary sponsor of a 2011 bill the House passed trying to block federal funding from going to Planned Parenthood clinics.
Conservatives feel Pence as a potential runningmate could give credibility to Trump, who hasn’t always opposed abortion the way he says he does now.
“I think we learned today [Trump] is starting to take this seriously,” said Curt Smith, president of the Indiana Family Institute.
Smith says he and other conservatives in Indiana still feel warmly toward Pence even though they viewed him as caving somewhat on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
When Pence signed RFRA, he prompted a major backlash from businesses, groups and individuals who feared it would allow discrimination against gays and lesbians. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Subaru of America slammed the measure and dozens of other businesses threatened to pull their dollars from Indiana. Angie’s List scrapped plans to expand its headquarters in Indianapolis.
As pressure mounted, Pence promised to “correct” the measure and within days signed an amendment clarifying that the law doesn’t allow businesses to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.
“Obviously I don’t like the fix and I wish he hadn’t signed it, but I believe he did the best thing for Indiana,” Smith said.
