Mike Pence speaking in DC
With 2016 creeping closer and closer, and in the aftermath of the defeat in 2012, the Republican Party is working to find the perfect golden boy to bring the GOP back into the White House; there’s a long list of hopeful candidates fighting with each other to lead the GOP to victory. However, according to recent Washington Post article, it looks like another name is being added to the roster of potential Republican candidates: Mike Pence, Governor of Indiana, former Congressman and talk radio host and solidly conservative Republican. While not too many people in the US have heard of him before, he looks like a pretty solid candidate.
Compared to the likes of Ted Cruz or Paul Ryan, Pence doesn’t seem to aggressive in his pursuit of the White House, but he’s been making stirs. Despite the fact that he’s not too well-known outside of his native Indiana, the Governor has been traveling around the United States and even the World fraternizing with Republicans and criticizing Obama’s policies. Indeed, many GOP leaders have been turning their gaze towards Pence. The Republican Party is currently deeply divided between social conservatives, fiscal conservatives and foreign policy conservatives, all of whom have conflicting ideas as to which direction the GOP should be going. Many believe that this division was what cost the Republicans the last Presidential election, when various hopefuls, each with a different idea of where to take the GOP, greatly harmed the unity of the Republican Party. Pence, according to Chris Chocola, president of the Club for Growth, could “bridge” these gaps and unite the Republican Party.
To be considered a viable candidate, however, Pence has a long way to go. He needs to raise a lot of money for his campaign, as well as assemble a national network and boost his name recognition. Luckily for Pence, he’s only 54, meaning that if he doesn’t get the chance to run in 2016, he could still be a viable candidate in later campaigns.
