ANYTHING IS Possible, eh?
Mike Pence has to be shaking in his boots right now. Paul Manafort chose Mike Pence as Trump’s VP for a reason, and now Robert Mueller is about to find out exactly why. I’m willing to bet it wasn’t because Manafort thought it was cute that Mike Pence calls his own wife “mother”
twitter…..
image…DailyKos…
One of the main reasons given for Pence becoming the VP candidate was that Trump was having problems finding a well known running mate because he was regarded as a near certain loser.
Pence,who had been viewed a potential Presidential candidate himself, was having popularity problems in Indiana and, some said , looking for a graceful exit.Accordingly, he was willing to accept what many regarded as a suicide mission with the idea of gaining some chits with Republicans for being a loyal party guy .(ala Sargent Shriver signing on as George McGoverns running mate in 1972 after the Eagleton fiasco.It did Shriver little good though in his short,unsuccessful bid at the Democratic nomination four years later).
As a kid my parents had the Collier Yearbooks–which were a supplement to update your encyclopedias in pre internet days. In the 1972 edition they had an entry for Sargent Shriver under the heading “Seventh Choice”–After Missouri Sen Tom Eagleton resigned the Democratic ticket Hubert Humphrey, Edmund Muskie, and 4 others who I have forgotten were named as potential running mates who turned down McGovern’s offer.
Manafort basically picked Pence, and engineered it on his own, and thus probably prevented the campaign from losing.
Trump, (after first wanting Gen. Flynn) wanted Christie. Jared and Ivanka who held a grudge against Christie for Kushner reasons, wanted Gingrich. Both Christie and Gingrich very much wanted the spot, but Manafort wanted Pence and had it leak to the press he was the choice, so that there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. Trump was very pissed at first but realized he was stuck.
There were a significant number of Evangelicals or otherwise conservative people who voted for Trump simply because they viewed Pence as a reassuring counter. Christie or Gingrich would have just been more doubling down on Trump. It will be up up to history to decide if Pence has done anything to influence Trump. He seems to just be content to smile, nod, stand in the background,… and wait.
Wasn’t Giuliani in the mix for VP too or am I misremembering?
Picking a pro-choice running-mate would have led to open revolt at the convention.
I am now reading “Fire and Fury” (several months behind the times to be sure, but it will be a while before I can get to the Woodward tome), and according to that, Trump wanted Giuliani for the Supreme Court instead of Gorsuch and did not care about the “list” he promised to choose from.
Thanks CG for the info….
I’m sure
RushRudy would gave flipped to anti choice–following Trump’s lead. Both are former moderate to liberals who are now hard core right wingers. Why would flipping on the abortion issue be a bridge too far?The bigger problem with picking Giuliani would be the Constitutional amendment that prevents a President and VP from the same state from recieving electoral votes.
Not sure if Giuliani has property in any other states he could have switched his voter registration to the way Dick Cheney–a resident of Dallas in 2000–did back to his native Wyoming.
Meant to say Rudy–not Rush
They would have just said, “well, we don’t need New York’s votes anyway.”
It wouldn’t have affected any other state.
What exactly could Pence,as VP, “do” for Manafort?
He, he, he
Jack?
What could he do if he, Manafort got the guy the job?
Are you REALLY asking that?
Yes,
Explain to me what power Pence ,as VP ,had to assist Manafort ,who presumably ,still had a relationship with Trump, the President.
Why would Manafort “need” Pence?
Explain.
Sure…..
Hey Jack?
I got ya the VP job….
Ok?
I’m NOT gonna say out loud you owe me for putting you in the history books and getting you out of Indiana, Ok?
I’m NOT gonna smile at you if knucklehead Trump gets kicked out office and YOU become President…
But every time I see you?
I’m gonna wink at ya ….
JUST TO REMIND YOU WHO GOT YOU THE JOB…..
THAT my friend would be having ‘Juice’…..
Ok so in 2016,using your “logic,” Manafort was already “speculating” that :
1)Trump was going to win the election.(something almost no one,including Trump himself,believed at the time of Pence selectionas running mate)
And
2) Trump was going to be removed from office.
That’s a nice fantasy.Got any other gems for us?
How about, as has been mentioned here,Pence was simply a good political choice?
No….
NOBODY thought Trump would win….
But?
Ya gotta be in it to win, eh?
And Yes….
You certainly are right with 1 and 2….
The win is a BONUS!
But Mananfort never got a chance to cash in, eh?
Hey Jack?
More on Pence and Manafort by way of Mike Flynn….
Mueller COULD very well end up wanting to talk to Pence, or have enough info to go ahead with roping Pence in to things in the end w/o doing a Q & A with him also….
I had forgotten all of this….
…Vice President Pence, who headed the Trump transition, says he is not one of the senior transition officials Flynn says were aware of his conversations with the Russian ambassador. Flynn was fired as national security adviser in February for lying to Pence, and others, about the nature of those conversations.
Here’s a timeline of key events about Flynn, and other aspects of the investigation into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 elections, that have a connection to Pence.
Feb. 26, 2016: Reuters reports that Flynn “has been informally advising Trump” on foreign policy during the presidential campaign.
June 9, 2016: Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya meets with Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign manager Paul Manafort in Trump Jr.’s office at Trump Tower in New York. Trump Jr. has said he went to the meeting to find out if Veselnitskaya had damaging information to share about the Clinton campaign.
July 16, 2016: Trump announces he’s chosen Pence as his running mate.
Oct. 14, 2016: Pence says on Fox News that the national media is chasing after unsubstantiated allegations that the Trump campaign is in cahoots with WikiLeaks, a website that publishes documents from anonymous sources. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” Pence says….
More…
Speaking of Pence,I remember the late Timothy Leal, a perennial poster @Politics1 .was a well known booster of Pence as a presidential candidate.
I strongly disagree with Pence on just about everything–but he really was the best option Trump had as VP in 2016.
Yes, he was certainly better than Rudy,Newt or Christie as a viable option.
Plus, as an Evangelical, he reassured that important segment of Republican voters, most likely(at least then) to be skeptical of the morally challenged Trump.(now though Trumps “morality” or lack thereof ,seems to be of little interest to these so called”values” voters.)
There is some talk that self identified Evangelicals are warming to Democratic candidates this year. I’ll reseeve judgment on that till after Nov.
Another theory is that fewer religious Americans are calling themselves “Evangelicals” because they no longer want to be associated with the likes of Franklin Graham and other hypocrites who still slam Clinton over his moral failings but give Trump a “mulligan” for his whore mongering.
HERE…Here!
Brain washing wearing off?
It HAS BEEN my feeling that Trump’s support is not monolithic ….
That maybe 40% or so is only hardcore….
Indies and others seem to be drifting away slowly….
Along with this?
Republicans AREgonna have some soul searching to do after the midterms….
Do they stick with carrying A sinking Trump?
Or do they risk standing against him?
To a small degree?….. That is already happening in Florida with Scott and DeSantis ….