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With a freewheeling address to the party faithful at Conservative Political Action Conference last month, President Donald Trump kicked off his involvement in the 2018 campaign season as if 2016 had never ended.

You don't mind if I go off script a little bit because, you know, it's sort of boring, Trump said, veering off his teleprompter and whipping up the crowd. Chants of lock her up! quickly ensued.

But as Trump heaves political red meat to rally his base for the midterms, hes leaning on Vice President Mike Pence to sweep into competitive districts to make the sell and raise some serious cash.

When Pence spoke from the same podium at CPAC, his measured and dogmatic address on the administrations policies was a study in contrasts with his boss, even as it stirred the crowd in a different way.

Multiple people close to the Trump political operation have described Pence as at the heart of its formula for 2018 voter engagement.

While President Trump plays the starring role as a one-man-band style closer, the vice president is being utilized as the tip of the spear, says Pences outside political adviser Marty Obst.

The vice president has set an aggressive campaigning calendar that has him on pace to participate in nearly 40 campaign events before the end of April to promote Republican candidates in House, Senate, and governors races, according to a Pence aide familiar with the plans.

Aggressive deployment of the vice president on the campaign trail this spring and summer is in part a nod to the uphill battle Republicans face in holding the House and Senate in November, several Pence advisers told ABC News.

The party in the White House has historically lost seats in the midterm elections, and in the most recent ABC/Washington Post poll, Democrats held a 12-point lead on Republicans in a generic ballot among registered voters.

Trump, his political team and Republican Party leaders decided during a Camp David retreat early this year to green-light Pence as their top surrogate, sources familiar with the meeting said.

The vice president plans to target his early campaign activity in reliably GOP districts but where the party isnt being overly confident, according to a political adviser to the vice president. After Labor Day, the expectation is that Pence will be a rapid response surrogate to help shore up support in tight races.

As the GOP tax cuts take hold and millions of American workers potentially start to see larger paychecks Pences top priority is to create a direct line to the president and Republican lawmakers, Pence communications director Jarrod Agen told ABC News.

The president's tax cuts are benefiting American workers across the nation and it was only achieved thanks to this Administration and Republican leadership in the House and Senate, Agen said.

Obst, Pences outside political adviser, said Pence is seen by the presidents political team as particularly well-suited to make the case because of his message discipline.

Hes known for incredible message discipline and nobody is able to reemphasize the talking points, the vision, the strategy, better than the vice president, Obst said. And so him coming into a district and articulating that message gives candidates the freedom to articulate that same message.

Even as Pence serves as one of President Trumps most loyal and ardent defenders, Obst says the vice president counsels candidates to stick to the tax reform-focused message and aggressively sidestep distractions and dramas coming from the West Wing on any given day.

Pence tells candidates to focus on the agenda, Obst said. Don't get sucked into fights that aren't yours, and don't get caught up in answering for every attack on the administration. Instead, focus on the successes of the administration and Congress, and the policies that are improving lives of the American people.

The administrations strategy is getting support from the Trump-allied advocacy group America First Policies, run by several of the presidents former advisers.

The group has organized a Tax Cuts to Put America First" tour across the country in tandem with the vice presidents campaign schedule. The group has already hosted four events in the tour first in Pennsylvania, then Texas, Michigan, and Iowa and the vice president has made appearances at each event, with more to come.

"We've extended an invitation to the Vice President to be our special guest at all events, and we are grateful he's been able to join us," says the group's communications director Erin Montgomery.

Democrats are preparing to counter Pence, arguing the realities of the economy for the middle class sharply contrast with the GOP messaging on tax cuts. They also dont appear intimidated by Pences involvement in key races.

It doesnt matter who the messenger is, its the GOPs agenda more expensive health care costs while corporate executives and big industries like pharmaceutical companies get a tax handout that is repulsive to voters across the country, said David Bergstein, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman.

Tyler Law with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said the special election this month in Pennsylvanias 18th Congressional District is already highlighting flaws in the Republican pitch.

After abandoning their tax message in Pennsylvanias 18th district, House Republicans are clearly scrambling to find a message and a messenger, Law said. Its laughable to think that Mike Pence is the answer.

Pences advisers say his ability to raise money from the Republican grassroots is an indication his strategic appeal in the midterms goes beyond the message.

Since becoming vice president, Pence has raised nearly $20 million to benefit various campaign committees and GOP candidates, according to a political adviser to the vice president.

A key vehicle of the vice presidents fundraising activities this year is a first-of-its kind leadership PAC the Great America Committee -- registered to Pences name.

The leadership PAC was formed for two fundamental reasons: The first is to invest in candidates who supported the Trump agenda and are in competitive races, Obst said. The second is those investments literally put gas in the plane to travel the country campaign for candidates.

Since its creation last year, Pences leadership PAC has cut two rounds of checks: the first round went to max-out donations to President Trumps 2020 reelection campaign and the second round of checks to support 40 priority House and governors races across the country, each getting a $5,000 cash infusion.

In the long run, the PAC also offers Pence the opportunity to maintain relationships with donors that the administration will again want to call on again during the presidents 2020 reelection bid.

The vice presidents fundraising activity has spurred speculation about his own future political ambitions. But people close to the vice president dismiss suggestion he will seek the presidency in 2020, pointing to Pences deep loyalty to the president and the reality that the leadership PACs funds can only be applied to the campaigns of other candidates.

The bigger question I ask people when they ask why the leadership PAC was formed is, why hasn't anyone else [done one]? It's another tool in the tool kit to help candidates, Obst said.

The PAC also has the blessing of the Trump family, sources say. When the PAC held a summit at the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC earlier this year raising half a million dollars over two days the presidents eldest son Don Trump Jr. even introduced Pence for his keynote speech, according to people close to the vice president.

Pences 2018 fundraising blitz also aims to maximize donations across all of the partys committees, including the RNC, NRCC and the NRSC, and individual candidates, his aides say. In the case of the RNC, an official said Pence has worked hand in hand with the committee to raise $4.5 million since last summer and is expected to bring in another $2 million through upcoming events.

When Pence was last in Pennsylvania to support Republican Rick Saccone ahead of the upcoming special election for an open US House seat, Pence hauled in a quarter of a million dollars for Saccone.

Republicans have had mixed results in off-year elections since Trump took power. In Alabama, Democrat Doug Jones pulled out a victory in the deeply red state against Republican Roy Moore, who had the backing of the White House, in the special election for Jeff Sessions US Senate seat.

Pence went all in to help elect Republican candidate Ed Gillsepie in Virginia governors race late last year, but Democrat Ralph Northam prevailed.

While some pundits have ominously forecast a coming Democratic wave, the vice president and his team shrug it all off.

I know that conventional wisdom holds that the upcoming midterms are going to be a challenge, right? Pence said in his remarks rallying Republicans at the GOP congressional retreat last month. But I think you all know what President Trump thinks about conventional wisdom.

The rest is here:
Vice President Mike Pence 'tip of the spear' in Trump 2018 ...

Vice President Mike Pence says recent comments by comedian Joy Behar about his religious faith demonstrate just how out of touch she is with the rest of America.

The ladies of ABCs The View found themselves wondering if Mr. Pence has a mental illness this week after former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault-Newman opined on his Christian faith. Her claim on Celebrity Big Brother that Jesus tells [Mr. Pence] to say things worried Ms. Behar, but the vice president said she and ABC executives should be more concerned with in-house bigotry.

It is just simply wrong for ABC to have a television program that expresses that kind of religious intolerance, Mr. Pence said Wednesday during an Axios event in Washington.

President Trumps right-hand man also said that Ms. Behars views were emblematic of some in the mainstream media, The Hill reported.

Its one thing to talk to Jesus, Ms. Behar, an agnostic, said during Tuesdays show. Its another thing when Jesus talks to you. Thats called mental illness if Im not correct. Thats hearing voices.

The comedian shifted her position after co-host Meghan McCain said Jesus speaks to her every morning.

I think that Mike Pence, say what you will about Mike Pence and his religiosity and everything else, I dont think that hes mentally ill even though he says he is hearing voices, she said. I dont think hes that crazy. He has no charisma whatsoever.

The hypocrisy here is practically palpable, the conservative group MRC Action said in an emailed statement released Thursday.

If someone made a similar statement about Islam, the women on The View and their leftist cohorts would be outraged. As it is, offending the 280 million Christians in America doesnt bother them at all, added the group, which describes itself as the grassroots arm of the Reston, Virginia-based Media Research Center.

Read the rest here:
Mike Pence rips Joy Behar, 'The View' debate linking his ...

He said he would prefer not to meet Mr. Pence at the informal gathering of American athletes and the official delegation held before the Games.

If it were before my event, I would absolutely not go out of my way to meet somebody who I felt has gone out of their way to not only show that they arent a friend of a gay person but that they think that theyre sick, Mr. Rippon told the newspaper.

Mr. Pence has been dogged by claims that he supports conversion therapy since his 2000 campaign for Congress. After stating his opposition to same-sex marriage and anti-discrimination laws that protect gay people, his campaign website addressed the Ryan White Care Act, which provided federal funding for H.I.V./AIDS patients:

Congress should support the reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act only after completion of an audit to ensure that federal dollars were no longer being given to organizations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus. Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.

That was widely interpreted as signaling his support for conversion therapy. Representatives for Mr. Pence did not respond to emails seeking comment this week. But in January, a spokeswoman, Alyssa Farah, responded to Mr. Rippon, telling USA Today, This accusation is totally false and has no basis in fact.

In 2016, a spokesman, Marc Lotter, denied that Mr. Pence supported conversion therapy and said his campaign website proposed federal funding for groups that promoted safe sexual practices.

But Mr. Lotter declined to explain what Mr. Pence meant when he referred to groups that celebrate and encourage activity that spreads H.I.V. Gay and transgender groups view that language as directed at their community.

Mr. Rippon repeated his criticism of Mr. Pence on Twitter after the USA Today article was published, but he told reporters he had no interest in picking a fight with the vice president.

That seemed as if it might be the end of it.

But two weeks later, things escalated. On Wednesday, USA Today reported that Mr. Pences office was so concerned about Mr. Rippons criticism that it had taken the unusual step of asking the United States Olympic Committee to arrange a conversation between the two.

Mr. Rippon, true to his word, would not meet with the vice president, the paper reported.

That seemed to be too much for Mr. Pence. On Thursday, he lashed out at the paper, tweeting that the report was fake news and that the journalist who had written it was bent on dividing Americans. But he was careful not to criticize Mr. Rippon.

Mr. Pences communications director, Jarrod Agen, denied that he ever requested a meeting with Mr. Rippon, and said that the USA Today report was just not accurate.

The USA Today report is false & should be corrected, Mr. Agen tweeted. VPs office did not try to arrange a meeting with Mr. Rippon at Olympics.

Christine Brennan, the journalist who wrote the USA Today article, defended her work on Twitter, saying the report is true and therefore will not be corrected.

Mr. Rippons agent, David Baden, agreed.

We were contacted by his office and I think the objective was to have a conversation with Adam, he said in an interview. The request did not come directly to him or Mr. Rippon but went through the various proper channels and that message was then sent to us, he said.

He declined to explain what those channels were. The United States Olympic Committee did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Mr. Rippon obviously respects the office of the vice president and took the request seriously, he said. But the figure skater respectfully declined and said after he was done competing he would revisit the request.

His job is to be an athlete, Mr. Baden said. His mind is on training, competing and doing his best to represent the U.S. going into the Olympics.

See the article here:
Mike Pence Tangles With Olympian Adam Rippon Over Gay Rights ...

Adam Rippon, openly gayfigure skating champion, reportedlyturned down an offer to meet withMike Penceafter lambasting him for his position on LGBT rights prompting the vice president to publicly respond.

According to a report published byUSA Today on Wednesday, a member of Pences staff reached out to the U.S. Olympic Committee to set up a conversation between the 58-year-old politician and the 28-year-old athlete back in January.

The alleged request came the same day USA Today published an interview with Rippon in which he saidhewanted to skip the standard meet-and-greet event between Team USA athletes and the American delegation, which is being led by Pence for this years opening ceremony.

You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy? Rippon,who publicly came out as gay in 2015, said in the Jan. 17 piece. Im not buying it.

Jarrod Agen, the vice presidents deputy chief of staff and communications director, refuted that a meeting was requested in a statement given to PEOPLE.

The USA Today report is false and should be corrected.The vice presidents office did not reach out to set up a conversation with Mr. Rippon, Agen said. As weve said before, the Vice President is supporting all the U.S. athletes in the Olympics and is hoping they all win medals.But this story is just not accurate.

Rippons rep declined to comment to PEOPLE on the USA Today report, as did USOC officials.

Adam Rippon and Mike Pence

Tim Bradbury/Getty; Chip Somodevilla/Getty

In a statement to PEOPLE back in January, Pences press secretary,Alyssa Farah, said that the vice president does not and has never supported conversion therapy. The accusation is totally false with no basis in fact, Farah said.

Despite these misinformed claims [about conversion therapy], the vice president will be enthusiastically supporting all the U.S. athletes competing next month in Pyeongchang, Farrah said.

But LGBT advocates have pointedto a 2000 statementon Pences congressional campaign website where he noted that Congress should reauthorize a law funding HIV/AIDS treatment but resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.

Beyond the issue of gay conversion therapy, Pence a self-described religious conservative has taken multiple anti-LGBT positions over the years.

If it were before my event, I would absolutely not go out of my way to meet somebody who I felt has gone out of their way to not only show that they arent a friend of a gay person but that they think that theyre sick, Rippon toldUSA Today. I wouldnt go out of my way to meet somebody like that.

Mike Pence

Jeff Roberson/AP

Pence also responded, himself, toUSA Todays latest report on Wednesday, taking a cue from President Donald Trumps playbook and calling their claims fake news.

Headed to the Olympics to cheer on #TeamUSA, he tweeted. One reporter trying to distort 18 yr old non-story to sow seeds of division. We wont let that happen! #FAKENEWS. Our athletes are the best in the world and we are for ALL of them! #TEAMUSA

He also wrote to Rippon directly on Twitter, saying, I want you to know we are FOR YOU. Dont let fake news distract you. I am proud of you and ALL OF OUR GREAT athletes and my only hope for you and all of #TeamUSA is to bring home the gold. Go get em!

In his original conversation with USA Today, Rippon said he would be open to meeting with Pence after the Olympic games.

If I had the chance to meet him [Pence] afterwards, after Im finished competing, there might be a possibility to have an open conversation, Rippon said. He seems more mild-mannered than Donald Trump. But I dont think the current administration represents the values that I was taught growing up. Mike Pence doesnt stand for anything that I really believe in.

Adam Rippon

Maddie Meyer/Getty

RELATED VIDEO: PEOPLE Writer Natasha Stoynoff Breaks Silence, Accuses Donald Trump of Sexual Attack

Rippon stood by his views when speaking to PEOPLE.

I just dont think thats right, he said, and I think there are so many people who also dont think thats right and I think right now more than ever I have this window of time to say what I feel and hopefully make a change.

My mom has always taught me to stand up for people who dont have a voice, Rippon added. Sharing my story [coming out] in 2015, I remember thinking if just one person hears this and reads it and it makes them feel like they arent alone, that would be awesome. Now to be headed to the Olympics, my story now has a bigger platform and Ive heard from so many different kinds of people.

He continued: Its so amazing and it makes me feel like coming out it was way more important than I even realized.

The 2018 Winter Olympics will air live starting Feb. 8 on NBC. To learn more, visitteamusa.org.

Excerpt from:
Mike Pence Responds After Adam Rippon Turns Down ... - people.com

See also: Mike Pence vice presidential campaign, 2016

Mike Pence

Present officeholder

Prior offices

Governor of Indiana

U.S. House of Representatives Indiana District 6

U.S. House of Representatives Indiana District 2

Personal

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Michael Richard "Mike" Pence is the 48th vice president of the United States. He was elected on November 8, 2016. President Donald Trump announced that he had selected Pence as his running mate on July 15, 2016.[1]

Pence served as the 50th governor of Indiana from January 14, 2013, to January 9, 2017. In April 2013, an analysis of Republican governors conducted by Nate Silver of the New York Times ranked Pence as the second most conservative governor in the country.[2]

From 2001 to 2013, Pence served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives. During his final year in the House, Pence was rated a "far-right Republican leader" based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack.[3]

As of January 24, 2018, Vice President Mike Pence had cast eight tie-breaking votes in the Senate:

Pence was born in Columbus, Indiana. He graduated from Hanover College in 1981, and he earned his J.D. from Indiana University School of Law in 1986.[11] After graduating from Hanover, Pence worked as an admissions counselor at the college until 1983. He then went to law school and worked as a private practice attorney from 1986 to 1990. From 1991 to 1994, he served as president of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation and was a talk show host on Network Indiana from 1994 to 2000. In 2000, he began his political career.[12]

Pence is the 48th vice president of the United States. He was elected vice president on November 8, 2016, and sworn in on January 20, 2017.

Pence served as governor of Indiana from January 14, 2013 to January 9, 2017. He was succeeded by Eric Holcomb (R).[13][14]

Pence served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013. In 2000, he won election to Indiana's 2nd congressional district. In 2002, the district was renumbered as Indiana's 6th congressional district. Pence served in the seat until 2013.

The Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress) is a two-part measurement that illustrates the extent to which members of the U.S. Congress have prospered during their tenure as public servants. It consists of two different metrics:

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Pence's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $11,015 and $169,000. That averages to $90,007.50, which was lower than the average net worth of Republican representatives in 2010 of $7,561,133.[15] Between 2004 and 2012, Pence's calculated net worth[16] increased by an average of 155 percent per year. Between 2004 and 2014, the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was 15.4 percent.[17]

Each year National Journal published an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Pence ranked 19th in the conservative rankings in 2011.[20]

Mike Pence voted with the Republican Party 94 percent of the time, which ranked 74th among the 242 House Republican members as of November 2011.[21]

Click on the tiles below to see Pence's issue positions on domestic, economic, and foreign policy when he was a member of Congress, governor of Indiana, and the 2016 Republican vice presidential nominee.

Click the tiles below to learn more about Pence's positions on domestic affairs.

Click the tiles below to learn more about Pence's positions on economic affairs and government regulations.

Click the tiles below to learn more about Pence's positions on foreign affairs and national security.

Click the tiles below to learn more about Pence's character, communications, and leadership positions.

Several news outlets reported that Pence was traveling to meet with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on July 1, 2016, and that he was formally being vetted as a potential running mate for Trump. Pence's office confirmed the meeting in an official statement, but the governor downplayed a possible VP pick, saying, "I haven't talked to him about that topic. My focus is here in the Hoosier state and that is where it will stay."[22]

On July 15, 2016, Trump announced that he had selected Pence as his running mate.[1]

Pence was a member of Donald Trump's presidential transition team. The transition team was a group of around 100 aides, policy experts, government affairs officials, and former government officials who were tasked with vetting, interviewing, and recommending individuals for top cabinet and staff roles in Trump's administration. According to The New York Times, Pence took over the transition's chairmanship, which had previously been run by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, on November 11, 2016.[23]

Pence endorsed Donald Trump for the Republican primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[24]

Pence had previously endorsed Ted Cruz.[25]

Pence initially filed as a candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2016 and ran unopposed in the Republican primary election. However, after rumors had circulated for weeks, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump announced in the morning on July 15, 2016, via Twitter that Pence would be joining his ticket as his running mate and vice presidential pick. Pence withdrew from the race the same day, just prior to the noon deadline.[26]

Pence was considered a potential Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential election. However, he announced that he would not seek the presidency on May 19, 2015.[27][28]

Pence won election as governor of Indiana in 2012. Pence was slated to face Fishers businessman Jim Wallace in the May 8, 2012, Republican primary election, but Wallace was removed from the ballot by the Indiana Election Commission on February 24, 2012, for failing to receive the requisite 500 signatures per congressional district. Thus, Pence was unopposed in the Republican primary, and he defeated former House Speaker John Gregg (D), Rupert Boneham (L), and write-in candidate Donnie Harold Harris in the general election on November 6, 2012.[29][30][31]

In terms of economic development, Pence said, "We would identify personnel in the IEDC with essentially an investment background that we would recruit and say, 'We want you to go to each community in this state and evaluate the assets on the ground. And we want you to meet with business leaders.'"[32]

In a letter to Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) in August 2012, Pence said that if elected governor he would not set up a health insurance exchange in Indiana, leaving the job to the federal government instead. I believe Indiana should take no part in this deeply flawed health care bureaucracy, he stated.[33]

The major issue of the 2012 campaign was jobs, with each candidate detailing their plan to get citizens back to work. Pence said he would create a jobs cabinet made up of business leaders and investment specialists who would support start-up businesses.[34]

On November 2, 2010, Pence won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Barry Welsh (D) and Talmage "T.J" Thompson Jr. (Lib.) in the general election.[35]

Pence won re-election to the position of Governor of Indiana in 2012. During that election cycle, Pence raised a total of $14,841,352.

Pence won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Pence's campaign committee raised a total of $2,684,316 and spent $2,654,178.[37]

Pence and his wife, Karen, have been married since 1985. They have three children: Michael, Charlotte, and Audrey.[11]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms MikePenceVice President of the United States. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

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