Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s running mate on the Republican ticket, accepted the vice presidential nomination Wednesday at the Republican National Convention. Here are a few brief thoughts.
Cruz > Pence
Ted Cruz had to know his non-endorsement of Trump would not be well-received by the delegates who have been whipped into a pro-Trump frenzy for three straight days. But he stuck to his guns and didn’t endorse Trump while weathering a chorus of boos. He didn’t attack Trump or show disrespect. He even congratulated Trump on winning to the nomination.
But to the Trump camp, anything less than full devotion isn’t enough.
Pence gave a standard political introduction speech Wednesday night. He talked about his mom, wife and children. He gave fairly standard conservative boilerplate language. He talked about how Hillary Clinton would just be a third Obama term and how she could “never be president.”
It was fine. But there was nothing there to divert attention from Cruz stealing the spotlight. Perhaps even a bad Pence speech would have been better for Trump than Cruz’s non-endorsement becoming the story of the night.
Trump Show Continues
Most of this convention has been more like a Trump convention than a Republican National Convention. Pence’s speech continued that theme.
Although Pence introduced himself in conventional fashion, he spent much of his speech praising Trump. Trump came on stage for about 30 seconds Wednesday to applaud at the end of Pence’s speech, and then deferred to give Pence’s family the spotlight. Even for a speech that was supposed to introduce Pence nationwide, he seemed to focus more on Trump than on his own record and why he was qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Perhaps that makes sense because Trump is on top of the ticket and most people don’t change their votes based on running mates. But it still seems like somewhat of a missed opportunity to solidify Pence’s qualifications, integrity and conservative record.
Will we hear from Pence again?
The public has been given very little reason to think that the Trump campaign is about anything much more than focusing all attention on Trump. Even the build-up and then roll-out of Trump’s vice presidential pick seemed to minimize any attention given to anyone other than Trump.
This is, of course, the way conventions work. The purpose is to aggrandize the nominee, and Trump’s campaign, naturally, is no different. But it becomes a bit more awkward because Trump’s is not a normal Republican presidential campaign. Given Pence’s mild-manneredness, it wouldn’t be surprising if he only rarely makes significant news again for the rest of the campaign.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
