Redstate

By Mark Kilmer Posted in Republicans — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Former Indiana radio talker Mike Pence is the new Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, "a group of over 95 House Republicans organized for the purpose of advancing a conservative social and economic agenda in the House of Representatives." The third term Congressman, representing Indiana's 6th CD, tells people that he is "a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order."

The Washington Posts runs a story profiling Pence, in which Stephen Moore (Club for Growth) is quoted as portraying the Congressman as articulate and charismatic, "not shrill or mean the way some conservatives can be." (No names named.)

(Read on...)

"I think a lot of us are looking around and saying, 'Who is the next great conservative hero? Where is the next Ronald Reagan in our party?' . . . The Study Committee has close to 100 members now. That's a high water mark. So it means that all legislation that passes Congress is going to have go through Mike Pence."

The Post piece tells us that political analysts wonder if the splintered GOP can resist fracturing into its component parts -- "the White House, GOP conservatives and moderates" over tax cuts, illegal immigrants, and budget deficits "that they fear is increasingly making the GOP's oft-stated belief in limited government look out of date." (What, que, and what?)

We see Pence's previous opponent, Democrat Melina "Mel" Fox, describing the Congressman as "really [House Majority Leader] Tom DeLay's voice out here. His agenda is the extreme right." Or as Joe Feuerherd wrote on the National Catholic Reporter web site in January, some of the left might see Pence as "a yahoo. A Bible thumping holier-than-thou representative of an America sophisticated bi-coastal types don't recognize." (Feuerherd continues: "That caricature, however comforting, is mistaken. An ideologue? Perhaps. But the soft-spoken Pence, 45, is no yahoo.")

The Post piece portrays Pence's conservative stands on various issues and selects the matter of the Ten Commandments on which to quote him directly:

"The most secular, atheist historian on the planet would have to grant that the entire legal system of Western civilization pivots off those tablets," Pence said. "And so the idea that, whether it be in Alabama or elsewhere, that states or public officials can't acknowledge a God or acknowledge that list of principles without violating the Constitution, I think, is anti-historical. And I think it's offensive to most Americans."

That line of thinking is certainly not in keeping with the mainstream (media).

The piece concedes that Pence's profile will be propped by the new post, but argues that his positions could hurt him if he has higher ambitions:

Although Pence's new post may raise his profile nationally, it could be a drawback if he ever runs for statewide office in Indiana, whose two senators are Republican Richard G. Lugar and Democrat Evan Bayh, said Mike Edmondson, executive director of the Indiana Democratic Party.

"Hoosiers support bipartisan consensus," [Indiana Democratic Party executive director Mike] Edmondson said. "Overly partisan members don't really represent the normal mold of Indiana politicians. Most of our elected leaders are moderate and work towards bipartisan consensus either in Congress or the Senate or at the state level."

So says the Dems.

There is a movement afoot, as always happens, to "Draft Mike Pence" to run for President in 2008. They contacted me in early January, but I was not familiar with him. I'd take notice after this Post piece, but one must take such profiles with a grain of salt, considering the source, and look for more. The Republican Study Committee site is a good place to start, and Representative Pence has the PenceBlog, his latest foray into the New Media.

Which brings us to why I opened this post by noting that Pence is a "former Indiana radio talker." (He is said to have described himself "as Rush Limbaugh on decaf.) It is the new media, and how the ideas can become action. Mike Pence is an influential Congressman, and RedState.org, according to cofounder Mike Krempasky, "is now incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia and registered with the Federal Elections Commission as a non-connected political committee, more commonly known as a 527."