The problem for Pence and the others running against his former boss: Today’s GOP voters appear to favor the coup-attempting former president over their longtime icon.
did not begin on a golden escalator in 2015,” the former vice president said in a speech at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, which will hold the first-in-the-nation presidential primary in just five months. “We have come to a Republican time for choosing.”Pence was referring to Reagan’s famous speech 59 years ago that became a touchstone for conservatives for decades to come, in which the former actor laid out his case for limited government conservatism.
“I have my serious doubts. I’m sure there is a lane for more traditional conservatism. But it is a single lane in a multilane highway, dominated by Trumpist populism,” said Norm Ornstein, a scholar at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute. “Even absent Trump, the populist wing is ascendant.”Mike Murphy, a veteran GOP consultant who has worked for former Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush among others, said Pence’s appeal was certainly worth the effort.
“It’s not a ‘time for choosing’ for the party. The party already made their choice: angry, nativist, authoritarian populism,” said Joe Walsh, who broke with Trump soon after he took office in 2017. He added that Pence, while criticizing Trump now, had been making excuses for Trump’s words, actions and policies as his vice president.
Reagan’s speech, delivered on behalf of 1964 Republican nominee Barry Goldwater, boosted his profile in the party, and led to his running for governor of California in 1966, where he served two terms, before eventually winning the presidency in 1980.That half-hour address focused on his philosophical disagreement with Democrats and their efforts to spend government money to solve social problems like poverty.
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