Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
Donald Trump made his vice presidential pick official Friday morning.
The proclamation came by tweet:
I am pleased to announce that I have chosen Governor Mike Pence as my Vice Presidential running mate. News conference tomorrow at 11:00 A.M.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2016
The Trump camp had scheduled a formal announcement Friday but postponed it after the attack in Nice, France.
So why Pence, and what will he do for the ticket?
For answers, Take Two spoke to Rachel VanSickle-Ward, a professor of political science at Pitzer College.
I should start with the caveat that, as we often say, VP selection is rarely going to be a huge game changer in a presidential election. With that said, there does look to be some strengths to this selection for Trump. One, he has governing experience, which Trump does not have and two, he has the potential for motivating social conservatives. It's worth noting that Trump has done better with religious conservatives than you might expect given his background, but Pence is particularly popular among this group.
What's interesting is that he's not particularly popular within his own state. His approval ratings are relatively low there. He won his last re-election, but only by three points, so there's some discussion that he might be up for a relatively tight race. Given that, this gives him a smart exit and a chance to have a national profile and sure-up those connections if perhaps he was going to lose the governor race in Indiana.
While he has criticized a couple of stances that Trump has taken, he has also never been a "Never Trump" guy. He endorsed Cruz early on, but he didn't completely slam Trump in the process, so I think the mending of bridges was probably easier than it could have been with other individuals. Because he has those strong connections with strong social conservatives, his endorsement of Cruz early on is probably a plus for Trump.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
(Answers have been edited for clarity.)