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Donald Trump To Announce Mike Pence As Vice-Presidential Running Mate (theguardian.com)

Donald Trump has selected Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his vice-presidential running mate. A senior GOP official, cited by many media outlets today (including the WSJ), confirmed the news, adding that the announcement will be made Friday. The Guardian reports: Pence brings several qualities to the Trump campaign that Republicans have found lacking, not least of which experience in government. The 57-year-old spent 12 years in Congress, including two years in a leadership role with the House Republican Conference. He was elected governor of Indiana in 2012, and gained a degree of national notoriety that's to a controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which he signed into law and then wanted revised, after many argued it would allow discrimination against LGBT people. A Trump-Pence ticket could send a message to Republican dissenters who feel they cannot support a candidate who has proven inconsistent on guns, abortion, LGBT rights and other social conservative issues. Just before the Indiana primary election, the staunchly conservative governor endorsed Ted Cruz, Trump's leading opponent and a far-right senator from Texas.An anonymous reader shared a BuzzFeed article on Pence today. The article digs into some of the opinion pieces Pence has penned over the years. In one such article, Pence wrote that "smoking doesn't kill." "Time for a quick reality check. Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn't kill," he wrote. In another piece, he argues that Carbon Dioxide "can't be the cause of increased global temperatures" because it is "a naturally occurring phenomenon in nature..." not an unnatural one.

5 of 413 comments (clear)

  1. Trump will succeed because... by GrBear · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In my opinion, Trump will succeed not because of his political prowess, but because of who he resonates with.

    People are tired of the elite ruling, making decisions based on cronyism and who lines their pockets. Trump isn't afraid to call them out.

    The elite don't seem to understand that the non-elite vastly outnumber them, and are tired of their voices no being heard or making a difference.

    Will Trump being president be a disaster, probably.. but at least it would shake things up and make the elite take notice how easily they can be replaced by the unsatisfied masses when the option presents itself.

    1. Re:Trump will succeed because... by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I don't believe in a savior. Hillary is terrible, but Trump is a real real bad joke. He isn't even conservative. He is just playing a bunch of morons for attention.

  2. Re:Meh by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually that isn't implausible. It is possible that Trump is really doing this to put a final nail in the coffin of the Republicans as a Democratic "operative".

  3. Re:would have voted for Trump had it been Gingrich by kqs · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually, I think he did.

    I suspect that Gingrich doesn't think Trump has any chance of winning. However, he and Trump both know that former republican candidates for both P and VP make crazy-large amounts of money on the conservative talk circuit. Republicans seem to pay very large amounts of money to listen to failed candidates speak. Democrats do too, but it seems to be less-crazy amounts and fewer venues, and the people usually have more credentials than "failed to become president".

    (I personally think that that was the only reason Trump ran, and that he as surprised as everyone else that he's in this spot.)

  4. Re:Meh by ShaunC · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's also the fact that about half the names released so far that are speaking at the RNC are either Trump's family or sports "stars" like Dana White and Tim Tebow.

    That side of the campaign sounds more like Camacho 2016 with each passing day. Tell me this exchange doesn't sound familiar.

    • President Camacho: Now I understand everyone's shit's emotional right now. But I've got a 3 point plan that's going to fix EVERYTHING!
    • Congressman #1: Break it down, Camacho!
    • President Camacho: Number 1: We've got this guy Not Sure. Number 2: He's got a higher IQ than ANY MAN ALIVE. and Number 3: He's going to fix EVERYTHING.

    It sounds like every single platform statement Trump has come up with.

    • Press: What is your stance on $ISSUE_X?
    • Trump: We're talking with the best people, smart people, real high energy people, and you're going to love what we do about $ISSUE_X!

    I'm growing weary of politicians using 1984 as a playbook, but I'd really prefer not to see Idiocracy used as one, either.

    --
    Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!