Sen. Joe Donnelly has a problem. More specifically, Donnelly has a Mike Pence problem.
Running for re-election in Indiana where Trump won by double digits, the vulnerable Democrat has been careful to avoid antagonizing the president. He hasnât shown any kind of restraint when attacking the vice president though, that most recent and most beloved governor of the state.
Sen. Joe Donnelly is fundraising…in Indiana…by attacking Mike Pence. #INSen pic.twitter.com/3IcMfhEb5L
— Philip Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) February 19, 2018
“We thought we’d gotten rid of (Pence) â but now he’s coming back with plans to attack Joe,” the Donnelly campaign wrote in a fundraising email sent out on Presidentâs Day. “Hoosiers know better than anyone exactly how much damage Mike Pence can cause.”
This comes a week after Donnelly touted the fact that he votes with Trump more than all but two other Senate Democrats. And this is an incredibly stupid strategyâthe political equivalent of walking into Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis, bad mouthing Peyton Manning, and then interviewing for the head coach position with the Colts.
Granted Pence is not a six-foot-five, 230-lb quarterback with a laser rocket arm and the undying, nonpartisan devotion of the entire state. But he is pretty close.
About 50 percent of Hoosiers approved of the job Pence was doing as vice president in October, according to an Old National Bank/Ball State University poll, while another 37 percent disapproved. Whatâs that mean practically? It means that Pence is now more popular than Trump in Indiana.
Granted Pence wasnât the most popular governor. But luckily for Republicans and unfortunately for Democrats, nostalgia forgives a multitude of sins. So if Donnelly wants to run as a moderate, he might consider laying off Pence.
