Mike Pence blir en mann å regne med i 2012

Mye peker i retning av at Representant Mike Pence (Indiana, 6. kongressdistrikt) blir en mann å regne med i republikanernes nominasjonsvalgkamp foran presidentvalget i 2012.

På søndag var Pence gjest på ABCs «This Week,» og verten Christiane Amanpour stilte spørsmålet mange går og funderer på om dagen:

AMANPOUR: Let me first ask you, Representative Pence, … you’re planning to step down from your leadership position. Are you running for president?


PENCE: Well, let me say, two years ago, I was asked to serve in a leadership position in the Congress, which after spending most of my career fighting runaway spending under Republican control was something as a surprise to many. But I took it because I thought we had an opportunity to lead our party back to a majority. And I took the job. I believed if we returned our party to the practice of conservative principles on Capitol Hill, we could win back the Congress. This week’s historic victory for conservative values for the American people is an — in my judgment, a fulfillment of my commitment. And so now my family and I are going to take our time to prayerfully consider ways that we can serve our state and serve our nation in the years ahead.

AMANPOUR: Very quickly: Would you run for president?

PENCE: Well, look, we’ve been very humbled by the encouragement we’ve received back in Indiana and around the country. And we’re intent on taking the coming weeks to really prayerfully consider that, to wait on the Lord, to seek counsel. And after the first of the year, we’ll make a decision.

AMANPOUR: So when can we hear your decision, after you’ve done all that consultation?

PENCE: Well, we’ve frankly been very humbled by the encouragement we’ve received back in our beloved Indiana and around the country, but we’re going to take the holidays here. And as I said, we’re going to reflect on it. … And our question will be, where can we make the most difference for what matters most to us? And what called me to public service back in the Reagan administration, when I first ran for Congress, was a commitment to conservative values.

Mike Pence var godt forberedt på akkurat det spørsmålet.

Pence er en favoritt blant såkalte sosialkonservative velgere, og mens Sarah Palin sier hun vil avgjøre om hun stiller eller ikke avhengig av hvem andre som stiller, vender Pence seg til familien og gud: «we’re intent on taking the coming weeks to really prayerfully consider that, to wait on the Lord, to seek counsel.»

Et tydelig tegn på hvor populær Pence er blant kristen-konservative velgere er det faktum at han vant (den ikke veldig viktige) 2010 Values Voter Summit Presidential Straw Poll foran blant andre Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich og Sarah Palin (les mer om Values Voter Summit her).

Intervjuet med Mike Pence ser du her.

American people is an — in my judgment, a
fulfillment of my commitment.

And so now my family and I are going to take our time
to prayerfully consider ways that we can serve our
state and serve our nation in the years ahead.

AMANPOUR: Very quickly: Would you run for
president?

PENCE: Well, look, we’ve been very humbled by the
encouragement we’ve received back in Indiana and
around the country. And we’re intent on taking the
coming weeks to really prayerfully consider that, to
wait on the Lord, to seek counsel. And after the first
of the year, we’ll make a decision.

AMANPOUR: Or governorship?

PENCE: Well, we — as I said, we’ve gotten…

AMANPOUR: So when can we hear your decision, after
you’ve done all that consultation?

PENCE: Well, we frankly — we’ve frankly been very
humbled by the encouragement we’ve received back
in our beloved Indiana and around the country, but
we’re going to take the holidays here. And as I said,
we’re going to reflect on it.

AMANPOUR: All right. Well, when you’re going to…

PENCE: And our question will be, where can we make
the most difference for what matters most to us? And
what called me to public service back when the —
back in the Reagan administration, when I first ran for
Congress, was…

AMANPOUR: We’re going to ask you about that
because…

PENCE: … a commitment to conservative values.