The Guardian February 9, 2009
The election of Michael Steele to the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee has raised new questions in the ongoing debateabout the future of the Republican party. Does the outspoken former lieutenant governor of Maryland have what it takes to inject new life into the ailing GOP and lead it in a new direction? And could his status as a minority provide a new face for a party that looks increasingly out of touch with a changing America?
But while Steele-watchers look for clues about what direction the party will take under his leadership, there is another Republican on the rise: Mike Pence, the recently-elected chairman of the Republican Conference and vanguard of the hardline, back-to-basics Reaganism of today’s Republican party.
Pence, a hitherto little-known congressman from Indiana, has emerged into the national spotlight as one of the most vocal critics of the Obama administration. He spearheaded the GOP’s opposition to Obama’s stimulus plan, promising “overwhelming” Republican opposition to – what he called – the president’s “dusty old wish list of liberal spending priorities”, and appeared on major US cable networks to defend the Republican party line. Such was his antagonism to Obama’s spending measures that Pence even found himself defending Rush Limbaugh, after the radio shock jock ludicrously declared that conservatives had been forced “to hope [Obama] succeeds … to bend over, grab the ankles, bend forward, backward, whichever … because this is the first black president.” (Perhaps it is telling that Pence once referred to himself as Rush Limbaugh on decaf)
Pandering to Limbaugh aside, Pence’s objections to Obama’s economic plan should come as no surprise: the congressman has made a name for himself as an outspoken critic of ‘big government’ attempts to rescue the economy, penning op-eds and appearing on national television to oppose both the financial and auto industry bailouts this fall. Last August, Pence even helped orchestrate a Republican sit-in on the floor of Congress after it had gone into recess, to protest the Dems’ refusal to overturn a moratorium on offshore oil drilling.
Pence’s conservative activism has paid off. Just two weeks after the election-day Götterdämmerung this November, he was chosen to chair the Republican Conference in Congress, making him the third-ranking House Republican and an influential agenda-setter for the country’s ‘loyal opposition’.
Pence’s rise in the party is noteworthy for at least two reasons. First, his recent activity in the House may be a prelude for a run for the Indiana governorship in 2012 or senate seat in 2010; victory in either of these races would set him up to be a strong contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination (although his name has already been thrown around as a possible candidate for 2012). He’s already aconservative favourite, and his thwarted attempt in 2006 to usurp John Boehner’s position as House Republican leader may have been an early effort to achieve the kind of national prominence necessary to jumpstart a presidential run. Competing for a governorship or Senate seat would mean waiting just a few more years to do so.
Posted by jrobertmartin 