Report: Pence reportedly won’t run for president; Update: Confirmed
posted at 4:59 pm on January 27, 2011 by Allahpundit
No surprise. News broke 20 minutes ago that he’ll reveal his decision tonight to the Indy Star, which was itself a sign that he’d pass on the White House and stay local. And according to an Indy political site, that’s exactly what’s happening.
U.S. Rep. Mike Pence has ruled out a run for national office and will tour the state in the next few months, informed and reliable sources tell Howey Politics Indiana. The sources say that Pence has not made a final decision about a run for governor, keeping open the option of running for reelection in the 6th CD.
Just this morning, Richard Viguerie and Ralph Benko published an op-ed in Politico anointing him the man to beat if he declared given his standing among both fiscal cons and social cons. As it is, Palinistas everywhere breathe a sigh of relief that there’s one less “true conservative” to worry about. I’m actually kind of surprised that he’s passing on 2012: His thinking, presumably, is that with four years of executive experience and no Democratic incumbent in the White House, he’ll be primed for a serious run in 2016. But so will Christie and Rubio and Jindal and who knows who else. It’ll be a strong field, whereas this year’s really isn’t. Speaking of which, Pence reportedly met with Mitch Daniels just eight days ago to discuss matters unspecified; I wonder if that was to sound him out about his own intentions, on the assumption that two Hoosiers in the field will cancel each other out, or if he was giving him a heads up about his decision.
Meanwhile, as a “true conservative” exits stage right, a RINO is set to enter stage left. Much to my surprise, WaPo is reporting that Jon Huntsman is indeed serious about running for president and has already put together a team featuring McCain emeriti John Weaver and Fred Davis. I thought for sure when he told Newsweek he was thinking about it he was only goosing the media ahead of a run for Orrin Hatch’s Senate seat in Utah. But no, apparently he’s going to try to be an even more sensible “sensible centrist” alternative to Romney, Daniels, and the rest of the moderates in the field. I didn’t understand his strategy when I wrote about him three weeks ago and I don’t understand it now, so follow that last link for further thoughts. Presumably he’s hoping to catch the fancy of David Brooks, George Will, Krauthammer, etc, and siphon off Daniels’s buzz as the new establishment favorite, especially in light of the foreign policy cred he derived from his ambassadorship. Good luck with the “sure, I worked for Obama but I didn’t enjoy it” messaging in the primaries, Jon.
Update: Done deal.
“In the choice between seeking national office and serving Indiana in some capacity, we choose Indiana,” Pence, R-Columbus, said of himself and wife Karen in a letter being sent to supporters. “We will not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012.”
He said he would make a decision “later this year” about what his next political step is, but by not running for president it is considered a virtual certainty that he will run for the GOP nomination for governor.
Needless to say, a big reason for the “Draft Pence” push in recent weeks was some social cons being uncomfortable with Palin or Huckabee as the nominee. Where do those people turn now?
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Sweet. How sweet it is.
Finally, Obama’s chikkinzzz are coming home to roost.
petefrt on May 19, 2013 at 8:22 PM
This.
When you have to plead incompetence to defend against charges of malfeasance, you know you might be in trouble.
petefrt on May 19, 2013 at 8:36 PM
ear relevant…
driguana on May 19, 2013 at 8:59 PM
Flush this lying tudd down the drain with the rest of the Obamacrap.
kemojr on May 19, 2013 at 9:34 PM
This was Dan Pfeiffer’s week in the barrel, like Susan Rice he was given the White House talking points and sent on a mission. He really needs to get copies of these tapes and watch them and see how foolish and unbelievable he looked and sounded. The White House is losing the little credibility it still had by sending these shills out every week trying to do damage control. Community organizers make poor leaders.
savage24 on May 19, 2013 at 9:42 PM
Pfeiffer’s statement that the law is irrelevant because the IRS conduct was “outrageous” and “inexcusable”, tells us all we need to know about this administration.
However, the follow-up should have been, “On what standard do you judge their conduct to be outrageous and inexcusable since the law is apparently not an appropriate standard?” (At least in Pfeiffer’s mind.)
What this comes down to is this: “if the Administrative deems something “outrageous” and “inexcusable,” then it is declared such. As we have seen in so many other areas, if the Administrative deems something to not be “outrageous” and “inexcusable,” then it is declared such.
In their mind, the law is – in fact – irrelevant. That’s what makes this situation so dangerous.
It’s not socialism. It’s worse.
EdmundBurke247 on May 19, 2013 at 10:36 PM
Irrelevant = “What Difference Does It Make?”
jaydee_007 on May 19, 2013 at 10:41 PM
A fitting capstone to Ed’s story about loss-prevention (aka employee theft) and management’s “permission structure” in this post.
(Not to mention the jaw-dropping statements of Eleanor Clift in this one.)
AesopFan on May 19, 2013 at 11:40 PM
I enjoy popcorn and hope it is a long week.
Drill and Fill on May 20, 2013 at 12:41 AM
Hey give Barky a break. He had to get his sorry ass out to Vegas.
tbear44 on May 20, 2013 at 4:49 AM
Of course they sent Pfeiffer out to do the Sunday shows. He was the most senior expendable staff member they had . . .
BigAlSouth on May 20, 2013 at 5:39 AM
Pfeiffer… The guy with the red shirt in the landing party…
Boudica on May 20, 2013 at 5:53 AM
Perfect!
lea on May 20, 2013 at 7:11 AM
Does anybody else remember the campaign in 2008 when Obama defended his lack of administrative experience by saying he was just so smart and tuned in that his instincts were better than experience. Someone needs to dredge up these sound bites and play then with the current line about the government being too large to control and that the White House only knows what it reads in the newspaper.
bartbeast on May 20, 2013 at 8:43 AM
If where the president was during the Benghazi crisis is “irrelevant”, then he wasn’t where one would expect the Commander-in-Chief to be. So, where was he? Was he watching a movie in the residence? Was he bowling? Or was he having a bi-curious outing with his good buddy Reggie Love? If Obama was AWOL, as I suspect he was, it is he who is irrelevant. This entire stinkin’ criminal Obama Regime must go and now!
SpiderMike on May 20, 2013 at 9:31 AM
If this continues all week, it will be ‘O’ himself doing the rounds on the Sunday talk shows – except for Fox, of course. (‘O’ can do everything better than everyone else as he has been known to say.)
He then gets the extra benefit that no one will challenge him like they have begun to do with his minions.
Carnac on May 20, 2013 at 11:00 AM
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