Mike Pence is reportedly preparing to launch his 2024 campaign and will be running as a “classic Conservative” as he seeks to present himself to the nation “as his own man again”.
Pence, 63, has long harbored the idea of running for office and has long faced questions about how closely he will ally himself with his former boss Donald Trump.
Currently, Trump is clearly ahead in the polls: FiveThirtyEight put him at 52.5 percent in their opinion poll, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has not yet commented, is at 21.9 percent.
Pence is well behind both with just 5.7 percent support.
But the former vice president’s team and allies told the New York Times they weren’t concerned about the initial lack of enthusiasm.
Mike Pence is seen addressing the Federalist Society in Washington DC on April 25th. He hopes to run for 2024 as a “classic Conservative.”
Donald Trump is seen on January 6, 2021 at the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the riot in the Capitol. Trump accused Pence of letting him down and his supporters chanted, “Hang Mike Pence”
Trump supporters brought a gallows to the Capitol and chanted, “Hang Mike Pence.”
“This campaign will put Mike Pence back in the country as his own man,” said Scott Reed, a veteran conservative strategist who ran Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign.
Reed helps build Pence’s super PAC called Committed to America. “People know Mike Pence. “You just don’t know him well,” Reed added.
Pence is set to deliver a speech Tuesday night in New Hampshire — a key state for early voting — in which he will reportedly call for “free trade with free nations.”
The speech aims to position himself as a free-trade-focused Reagan conservative hoping to win over the Christian right, financial conservatives and national security hawks.
Pence’s team also hopes he can perform strongly in Iowa — the first state to vote in the primary and a state with a strong evangelical electorate that will likely be impressed by Pence’s own faith.
“Iowa feels more like Indiana than any other state in the Union,” said Pence, a former Indiana governor. “It just feels like home.”
Pence has set himself the goal of distinguishing himself from his competitors by pushing for budget cuts – and also targeting his former boss in the process.
Trump can be seen campaigning with Pence for re-election in November 2020
Pence is seen in the Capitol on January 6, 2021 as it was overrun by people calling for his blood
“It’s quite remarkable that Joe Biden and Donald Trump take the same position on the ability to pay: the position of never touching Social Security and Medicare,” he said.
He also disagrees with Trump on the abortion issue: Trump has said it’s a state issue, and last week in CNN City Hall refused to agree on what he thinks is the right threshold.
Pence, a strong pro-life proponent, has repeatedly said he wants a nationwide ban on abortion.
“For the former president and others who aspire to the highest office in the country, I think it is wrong to leave this matter to the states,” he said.
His senior adviser, Marc Short, said Pence considers a 15-week national suspension to be the “minimum threshold”.
Pence faces an uphill battle for the nomination, with much of the attention and fundraising so far focused on Trump and DeSantis, who plans his own entry into the race in the coming weeks.
Also in the field are former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley; technology entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Tim Scott, a South Carolina senator, has formed a select committee for the president and is expected to officially start his campaign next week.
Pence, seen in Salt Lake City on April 28, is expected to start campaigning in the coming weeks
Pence’s team spoke specifically about Pence’s role on Jan. 6, 2021, in defying Trump’s pressure campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election — a power Pence never possessed as vice president.
Pence was about to hold a joint session of Congress to confirm President Joe Biden’s victory when a violent mob of Trump supporters burst into the Capitol, smashing windows, smashing doors and clashing with police.
Pence was taken to safety at a Senate loading dock while some outside the building shouted, “Hang Mike Pence!”
Pence’s allies believe voters will be drawn to Pence’s defense of the Constitution.
However, it remains unclear how important this position will be in a party still dominated by the former president.
Much of Trump’s base will never forgive Pence for his actions that day, while many Trump critics see the former vice president as an accomplice in Trump’s most controversial acts.
A statewide poll by Quinnipiac University released in May found that 36 percent of Republicans nationwide are negative about Pence — a higher negative rating than either Trump or DeSantis.