Associated Press
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday dropped his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, ending his campaign for the White House after struggling to raise money and gain traction in the polls.
“After much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today,” Pence said at the Republican Jewish Coalition gathering in Las Vegas. “We always knew this would be an uphill battle, but I have no regrets,” he said.
Pence becomes the first major candidate to leave a race that has been dominated by his former boss-turned-rival, Donald Trump.
The decision, more than two months before the Iowa caucuses that he had staked his campaign on, saves Pence from the embarrassment of failing to qualify for the third Republican primary debate, Nov. 8 in Miami.
But the withdrawal is a huge blow for a politician who spent years biding his time as Trump’s most loyal lieutenant, only to be scapegoated during their final days in office when Trump became convinced that Pence somehow had the power to overturn the results of the 2020 election and keep both men in office — not something a vice president could do.
While Pence averted a constitutional crisis by rejecting the scheme, he drew Trump’s fury, as well as the wrath of many of Trump’s supporters who believed his lies and still see Pence as a traitor.
Among Trump critics, meanwhile, Pence was seen as an enabler who defended the former president at every turn and refused to criticize even Trump’s most indefensible actions time and again.
As a result, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research from August found that the majority of U.S. adults, 57%, viewed Pence negatively, with only 28% having a positive view.
Throughout his campaign, the former Indiana governor and congressman had insisted that while he was well-known by voters, he was not “known well” and set out to change that with an aggressive schedule that included numerous stops at diners and Pizza Ranch restaurants.
Pence had been betting on Iowa, a state with a large white Evangelical population that has a long history of elevating religious and socially conservative candidates such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Rick Santorum. Pence often campaigned with his wife, Karen, a Christian school teacher, and emphasized his hard-line views on issues such as abortion, which he opposes even in cases when a pregnancy is unviable. He repeatedly called on his fellow candidates to support a minimum 15-week national ban and he pushed to ban drugs used as alternatives to surgical procedures.
He tried to confront head-on his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, explaining to voters over and over that he had done his constitutional duty that day, knowing full well the political consequences. It was a strategy that aides believed would help defuse the issue and earn Pence the respect of a majority of Republicans, whom they were were convinced did not agree with Trump’s actions.
But even in Iowa, Pence struggled to gain traction.
He had an equally uphill climb with donors, despite years of connections. Pence ended September with just $1.18 million in the bank and $621,000 in debt, according to his most recent campaign filing. That debt number probably has grown in the weeks since and seemingly will take years for Pence, who is not independently wealthy, to pay off.
The Associated Press first reported after the filing that people close to Pence had begun to feel he faced a choice about whether remaining a candidate might potentially diminish his long-term standing in the party, given Trump’s dominating lead in the race for the 2024 nomination. While they said Pence could stick it out until the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses if he wanted, he would have to consider how that might affect his ability to remain a leading voice in the conservative movement, as he hopes.
Some said that Hamas’ attack on Israel in October, which pushed foreign policy to the forefront of the campaign, had given Pence a renewed sense of purpose given his warnings throughout the campaign against the growing tide of isolationism in the Republican Party. Pence had argued that he was the race’s most experienced candidate and decried “voices of appeasement” among Republican, arguing they had emboldened groups such as Hamas.
Pence is expected to remain engaged, in part through Advancing American Freedom, the conservative think tank he founded after leaving the vice presidency. He envisions it as an alternative to the The Heritage Foundation.
Pence’s group is expected to continued to advocate for policies that he supported in his run, including pushing for more U.S. support for Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion and proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare to rein in the debt. Such ideas were once the bread-and-butter of Republican establishment orthodoxy but have fallen out of a favor as the party has embraced Trump’s isolationist and populist shifts.
20 comments
rick whitaker
October 28, 2023 at 3:13 pm
pence the trump enabler and then pence the bus wheel tracks candidate finally quit. good for him and the country. who needs a guy like that, i don’t. he has hate in his heart for sure, but maybe not enough for maga cultist.
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October 28, 2023 at 3:16 pm
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My Take
October 28, 2023 at 3:16 pm
A third of Republicans today are moral vermìn, and many additional are MAGA morons..
Not being able to attract them is no disgrace.
Nebraska Granny
October 28, 2023 at 3:25 pm
Look at your own heart, Rick, before you accuse others of having hate in theirs.
Earl Pitts "America's BIG VOICE on The Right" American
October 28, 2023 at 3:33 pm
Rick, go easy on Nabraska Granny.
I dont think she is aware that you ore my, Earl Pitts American’s, contrarian wacky Dook 4 Brains Lefty, poster. And that you work for me making me look good by your off the chain lefty wackyness.
Thanks Rick,
EPA
rick whitaker
October 28, 2023 at 3:41 pm
WARNING ⚠ TROLL COMMENT BY EARL SHITTS
rick whitaker
October 28, 2023 at 3:37 pm
i told you before, i do have hate in my heart for trump and his followers. i love my country and fought in the vietnam war, so i hate maga cultist trying to tear it down and kiss putin’s ass, among other things. when i comment on someone being full of hate, it’s because they, not me, think that is a bad thing, i don’t. you took it wrong. i don’t think like a christian, i guess you are just not used to men like me. you are a granny, i’m a great grandfather. don’t preach to me, i hate people like that..
John E
October 28, 2023 at 7:59 pm
Rick
How much did joe biden’s campaign pay you to say that
My Take
October 29, 2023 at 12:42 am
Ìn WW2 the Nazis would put a powerful radio station on the same frequency as an important Brìtish station during news oŕ speeches. Not to jam it, but to add to it. At various statements, a loud voice would ask, “What Jew paid you to say that?” or interject some other propaganda.
rick whitaker
October 29, 2023 at 7:45 pm
i’m a man of honor. i donate to political campaigns. i’m not for sale. you mentioning that sort of thing tells me a lot about you. being a hard worker and a financially conservative person, i have money to donate to causes that i think helps those who need it. i recently gave away two properties to struggling families that needed them. maga cultist that donate to trump or desantis do so for different reasons. i would assume you are a maga cultist.
Ocean Joe
October 29, 2023 at 10:16 am
Always good counsel but we know the truth: Mother had enough and didn’t think she could get anymore rope burns out of his dress shirts.
Whose next?
Oh Ronnie Boy
The cowbells are a ringing
Earl Pitts "America's BIG VOICE on The Right" American
October 28, 2023 at 3:28 pm
Good afternoom America,
STAND BY FOR NEWS !!!!
This is the first sensable thing the maybe a little too much “His Religion In Your Face” Mike Pence has done in God knows how long.
Religion is important but let us harken back to how Our Lord And Saviour “Jesus Christ” delt with the self rightous religion in your face scribes and pharasies in the red letter edition of The Holy Bible.
Actually we have all known for 2023 AD years that folks like Mike Pence all get that Southern “Well Bless Your Heart” which is the good folks of Southern USA Heratige’s polite way of telling you to “€FF OFF”.
So polite, so appropriate, good-by Mike, if we ever hear from you again, it will be too soon.
EPA
rick whitaker
October 28, 2023 at 3:39 pm
WARNING ⚠ TROLL COMMENT BY BILLY PURSER ( AKA EARL PITTS )
No Defense In Unsafe Florida
October 30, 2023 at 6:09 am
Christians quit; it’s what they do well.
My Take
October 28, 2023 at 3:48 pm
DregSSantis’ only hope is Trump falling,
outside the selection.
Rhonda and I actually agree . . . in hoping Ivanka throws Trump under the bus to save herself.
Justin
October 28, 2023 at 5:00 pm
I had a sneaking suspicion Pence wasn’t gonna make it when I showed up to one of his recent campaign events. I arrived and asked where everyone was. The cashier pointed and said, “go straight back, and take a left at the Precious Moments figurine display.”
Biscuit
October 28, 2023 at 5:53 pm
Pence was a bad dog for letting Trump take him for a four year walk on a tight leash, only to find out his loyalty to his Master was not returned, that he was being used to make his Master look Christian.
Stupid human.
Arf.
My Take
October 28, 2023 at 7:03 pm
Past-Tense Pence
No real loss, except to the GOPer facade of a small relic of duty.
rick whitaker
October 29, 2023 at 7:50 pm
4 years of watching that pious deacon smile on pence’s face while trump lied and belittled everyone he disagreed with, was enough phony christianity for me. good riddance.
No Defense In Unsafe Florida
October 30, 2023 at 6:09 am
Christians quit.
Comments are closed.