Pence has little support, but that can change

By Matt Scoville ’18

@matt_scoville

Many people are still talking of when Donald Trump announced his Vice President, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana. However, at the Republican National Convention, some Republicans still are unfamiliar with Pence.

Diane Bitter, of Concord, NH one of the New Hampshire Delegates wants to get to know him better. Bitter said she had never heard of him before. “He’s one fellow, believe it or not, that I have never met, I’m from New Hampshire, we’re accustomed to meeting these guys on a regular basis, and I haven’t met Mike. I want to hear what he has to say.” Bitter’s first opportunity to hear Pence was on July 20^th, when Pence made his address to the RNC. But Bitter, like other Republicans I talked to, would also like some more depth to their knowledge about the VP pick.

Kim Snyder of Cleveland, OH didn’t know much about Mike Pence, but she did think he had a calming effect. “I know he is a born again believer and he might be able to keep Donald Trump under control.” Donald Trump has been known to be an outspoken and sometimes over the top candidate, even offending some in his own party. But from Snyder’s point of view, she feels that Hillary Clinton and President Obama are inciting social problems and Trump and Pence can bring a calming effect.

Deb Usay, also from Cleveland, OH is a diehard republican. She supported Pence as a Vice President nominee because of his religious background and his stern attitude. “I like him because he is a conservative Christian, he can create strong economy out of Indiana and can advise Trump in areas that he is inexperienced in, because he has already been in office before.” Usay wanted to have Newt Gingrich originally. “I really wanted Newt Gingrich as a choice, but he’s a loose cannon. He made the conservative choice with Pence.”  According to Usay, Trump is outspoken and Pence is conservative and they create a balanced ticket.

Out of all the women I talked to today, they all agreed on the level of safety and security they felt at the convention.  As Snyder said, she was watching the protests from the road and thought how the police were doing a great job at keeping the peace with the protest. So with the delegate roll call almost completed, the Trump-Pence ticket, while not necessarily well understood, does seem to have quite a bit of support.

Matt Scoville is a junior mass communications major at Franklin Pierce University. He is from Torrington, CT, this is his first Convention.

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