Mike Pompeo wisely opted out of the 2024 presidential primary this week, but if you were expecting Mike Pence to follow suit, you’re likely going to be disappointed. The former Veep showed up at an RNC donor summit in Tennessee last night and while he didn’t make an official announcement, he was going after the other primary contenders (including his former boss) and sounding very much like he will soon throw his hat in the ring. But Pence’s criticism of the rest of the field, particularly Donald Trump, sounds as if it was lifted from the mid-nineties using a time machine. He insisted that Republicans need to “run like Republicans” if they hope to win next year. But his concept of what that means may be somewhat out of step with the current reality inside the party. (AP)

Former Vice President Mike Pence ramped up his criticism of fellow Republicans at a GOP donor summit Friday night, trying to paint his would-be rivals as straying from party principles as he inches closer to an expected presidential run.

Speaking at a Republican National Committee donor summit in Nashville, Pence planned to criticize former President Donald Trump and others who have questioned the war in Ukraine and oppose entitlement reform and further curbs on abortion rights. He argued the party will be better served by candidates who espouse more traditional GOP views, according to excerpts shared by aides ahead of his remarks.

Pence described the upcoming primary battle as “not a contest of candidates but a conflict of visions.” He stressed the need for a focus on “strong national defense, limited government and traditional social values.” That all sounds fine, or at least it used to, but when you start digging into the specifics he sounds like he may be a bit out of step with where the party is going today.

Right off the bat, Pence criticizes anyone who “questions the war in Ukraine.” That’s the sort of thing you would have traditionally expected to hear from any neocon regarding any conflict around the globe. But the war in Ukraine is not our war nor is it our troops who are fighting it. (With a dozen or so exceptions, unfortunately.) We’re just paying for it. And since when does it go against conservative principles to demand an accounting of where our taxpayer dollars and military assets are going? It is also not unreasonable to question whether the current administration is nudging us toward an actual hot war with another nuclear power if not two of them. I have some bad news for the former Veep. The neocon wave has been receding from the Republican shore lately.

He also called other potential candidates who were backing away from “entitlement reform.” (Translate that to mean cuts to Social Security and Medicaid.) While such changes are very much needed sooner or later, those are electoral losers with a large slice of the GOP base, particularly among seniors. Take a look at what’s happening in the streets of Paris this week if you need another hint.

Speaking of electoral losers, Pence further admonished primary candidates who failed to push harder for more limits on abortion. We covered that topic here recently as well. The vast majority of conservatives remain pro-life, of course. But if you let the Democrats make the next election all about abortion access, you get drubbed in the swing states. That’s unfortunate, but a close look at recent electoral results shows that it’s also undeniable.

Mike Pence is, in my opinion, a good man with a long and admirable record of public service. But he sounds like he’s talking about a Republican Party that has evolved away from him in some key areas. I’ve said this before and I will repeat it once again. Donald Trump was not a person that suddenly changed conservative politics. He was a symptom. There were conservatives out there prior to 2015 who were waiting for someone like him to come along. They just didn’t know who it would be until he showed up. And there really isn’t any going back at this point, at least as far as I can see.