SETTING UP an unusual scenario of two running mates turned rivals, former Vice President Mike Pence launched his bid for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nomination, challenging front-runner Donald Trump.
Pence submitted the required documentation for his application to the Federal Election Commission and will make a video statement Wednesday in the state of Iowa joining the plethora of candidates for his party’s primary.
An evangelical conservative and fierce opponent of abortion will make his entry into the electoral campaign official on Wednesday, the day of his 64th birthday, with an act in Iowa, which traditionally opens the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Then, it will make its national presentation in a televised event setting up an unusual setting.
During Trump’s tenure (2017-21) Pence was a loyal vice president who reached out to the religious right and was always ready to defend the president against any accusation.
After years of loyalty to the real estate mogul, he withdrew from his circle when a mob of Trump supporters violently stormed Congress on January 6, 2021, in Washington.
That day Pence ignored Trump’s claim to frustrate the session in which Congress was to validate the electoral victory of Democrat Joe Biden.
Constantly rebuked by Trump after Biden’s victory – and even called a “traitor!” at a conservative conference in Florida – Pence continued to publicly praise the former president.
That changed when a spate of false claims of Trump’s voter fraud led to a Capitol-bound crowd chanting for Pence to be hanged.
Since those tragic riots, Pence has criticized Trump for endangering his family and others that day, emphasizing his differences with the former president on issues ranging from relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin to the right to abort
“CCR”
Pence has spent much of the past two years touring early nominating states, such as Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire, to reinforce his political vision of “Christian, conservative and Republican, in that order.”
His entry into the electoral arena does not greatly alter a race that has three well-defined lanes: that of Trump as overwhelming leader, that of his closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and then the rest.
Pence shaped the profile of a traditional Republican, concerned with fiscal responsibility and family values. He shows that he can apply Trump’s policies on the economy, immigration and many other things without drama.
In contrast to Trump, Pence has not ruled out cutting entitlements and has sided with Ukraine. He is an abortion hardliner and an opponent of gay marriage.
Although his vision is popular among Republicans, some wonder if it has a place in a party that is now more focused on populism and cultural politics than traditional conservatism.
Some voters say that, with their decision to defend the Constitution after the election won by Biden, they also have other options for candidates, such as the Christian Tim Scott who is not related to the Trump times.
“We give (Pence) credit for certifying the election,” Republican strategist Sarah Longwell told Politico. She, however, also pointed out that for four years she endorsed Trump “when he ran over the presidency.”
For his part, DeSantis has consistently been nearly 20 points ahead of Pence in the polls and hopes to challenge Trump for the right wing of the party.
But DeSantis’ poor performance in head-to-head polls breaks ground with Chris Christie announcing his run Tuesday, joining former governors Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson and Tim Scott already in the running.
Meanwhile, the governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, confirmed that he will not enter said competition because he considers that he can be more useful by working to improve the party from other places, such as the Governorate itself./AFP
2023-06-05 20:03:41
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