Indiana Gov. Mike Pence fueled speculation over his future political plans on Fox News Sunday when he didn’t rule out a possible White House bid in 2016. Should he run, he could be an intriguing candidate.

In many ways, Pence was a proto-Tea Partier. When he entered Congress in 2001, the small-government enthusiasm of the 1994 Republican Revolution had largely abated, and President George W. Bush‘s brand of “compassionate conservatism” was all the rage. Pence resisted pressure from party elites as one of a few Republicans in the House to vote against both No Child Left Behind and the Medicare prescription drug bill. Those two laws would become the poster children for the betrayal of conservative values during the Bush era.