You are probably aware of the report in the New York Times that Donald Trump, Jr (who is in dire need of a catchy nickname) asked a John Kasich staffer if the Governor wanted to be “The Most Powerful Vice President in History” ™.
When Kasich’s adviser asked how this would be the case, Donald Jr. explained that his father’s vice president would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy.
Then what, the adviser asked, would Trump be in charge of?
“Making America great again” was the casual reply.
It makes one wonder if that was an offer solely for Kasich or if it was the basic package being offered to all of Trump’s VP candidates. After all, Trump campaign chair and chief strategist Paul Manafort also said ...
“He needs an experienced person to do the part of the job he doesn’t want to do. He seems himself more as the chairman of the board, than even the CEO, let alone the COO.”
Tonight we turn to Mike Pence’s coronation as the Vice Presidential Candidate of the Republican Party. Will he be strong? Will he be able to capture the imaginations of the American public? Will he use entirely original material in his speech?
These questions will all be answered by the time most of you read this diary. But one question remains: If Mike Pence is to be the most powerful VP in US history, what will that look like?
A look at Mike Pence
Pence’s voting record can be found here just in case you would rather look them up than read the diary. There may be few other primary sources available about Pence’s time in Congress as Pence has sealed the records of his term at the Indiana University library. He was able to do this because he is the donor of the papers and can thus deny public access to them.
Mother Jones put together a great summary of Pence’s record, titled “Mike Pence Has Led a Crusade Against Abortion Access and LGBT Rights.” I can’t think of a better way to describe it. I will summarize here for you.
LGBT Rights
- 2003: co sponsored an amendment to prohibit same sex marriage
- 2007: voted agains the Employment Non Discrimination Act
- voted against repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
- 2015: signed a law that permitted businesses to deny service to LGBT persons based on religious beliefs
Abortion Access
- March 2016: signed a law (since blocked by the courts) prohibiting abortion due to race, gender or disability of the fetus
- The same law held doctors legally liable if anyone had an abortion for those reasons
Planned Parenthood Funding
- supported an amendment in Congress to defund PP
- by 2014, Indiana cut PP funding nearly in half from 2005
Additionally, Pence voted from 2006 to 2009 against
Let’s Not Forget, Mike Pence as Radio Host and Film Critic
Apparently, Pence didn’t like the movie Mulan, based on a 6th Century Chinese story. Buzzfeed found a piece about the Disney movie on his show’s website.
Mike Pence doesn’t believe that women should serve in the military, because … sex.
“It is instructive that even in the Disney film, young Ms. Mulan falls in love with her superior officer! Me thinks the politically correct Disney types completely missed the irony of this part of the story. They likely added it because it added realism with which the viewer could identify with the characters.
You see, now stay with me on this, many young men find many young women to be attractive sexually. Many young women find many young men to be attractive sexually. Put them together, in close quarters, for long periods of time, and things will get interesting. Just like they eventually did for young Mulan. Moral of story: women in military, bad idea.”
We have already lived through the Dick Cheney shadow presidency. We should not have to live through the Mike Pence shadow presidency.
So, if you need a few reasons to vote Democrat in November, these are just a few that might tip you to pull that lever.
meanwhile ...
While Rob Reiner was not available for comment, Archie Bunker was …
I’m personally a little more in line with the Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus. "Beware Donald Trump Jr"
Still, this Trump comes off as more grounded, less compelled to brag about his smarts or his wealth or his fancy degrees, more interested in presenting himself as everyDad, just wanting to sneak out for a meal after the kids are in bed, maybe do some hunting once in a while.
...
Governor of New York? Watch that Trump.