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Mike Pence, Mitch Daniels, Paul Ryan, Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush — conservatives all year long have been wishing, yearning, even begging people who aren’t in the presidential race to enter the fray and save them from what seems like a frighteningly uninspiring field of candidates. Yet could it be that the sharpest, most accomplished, most campaign-savvy, and most full-spectrum conservative in a quarter-century of presidential contests has been in the contest all along, working harder than anybody, making at least as much intellectual sense as anybody, never blowing a debate, and never failing to stand on...

Republican candidates for president have been busy for weeks now, laboring strenuously to give the 2012 nomination to Mitt Romney. And he keeps trying to give it back. The former Massachusetts governor could walk to next year's GOP convention without touching the ground, treading exclusively on the bodies of rivals who have fallen on their faces. He's the equivalent of the Alabama Crimson Tide, playing a schedule heavy on Southeastern Louisiana and Middle Tennessee State. He should be running up the score every week. Instead, he keeps finding ways to keep his opponents in the game. Look at the opposition....

Indiana 'Survivor' Weighs Libertarian Candidacy INDIANAPOLIS -- Former "Survivor" contestant Rupert Boneham, of Indianapolis, is considering a run for governor of Indiana Boneham, 47, has formed an exploratory committee to possibly seek the Libertarian Party's nomination for governor. He said on his campaign website that the current field of candidates doesn't understand the problems average Hoosiers face. "I do not see anyone that has an understanding of what daily life is like for many Hoosiers nor anyone who appears to understand the harm that misguided government policies are doing to our communities," Boneham said on his website. "It is obvious...

POSITIVELY PALIN! Sarah Palin would be a "force to reckon with" in the Republican presidential primary if she runs, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said Wednesday. Pence, a candidate for governor of Indiana who passed on his own run for the White House despite the beckoning of conservatives, said he thought that Palin, the former governor of Alaska, would immediately be a contender — if she decides to enter the race. "I think Sarah Palin is unquestionably a contender the very day she becomes a candidate, if she chooses to run," Pence said on MSNBC. "No question Sarah Palin would...

Indiana GOP Rep. Mike Pence says he is not likely to support the compromise brokered Friday between Congress and the President Barack Obama, Politico reports. “From what I know, it sounds like John Boehner got a good deal,” Pence said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” adding that the cuts were “probably not good enough for me to support it.”

On March 31, the Tea Party held a budget protest in Washington, D.C. Among those who showed up included: Rep. Allen West, Joe Walsh, Michelle Bachmann, Mike Pence and Sen Rand Paul. We asked some of those politicians how they felt about Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer blaming Freshman Republicans that the Tea Party sent to Washington for blocking the budget. Here are their reactions.

A small but vocal group of Tea Party activists gathered outside the Capitol on Thursday to urge House Republican leaders to hold the line and push for deeper spending cuts in the federal budget. Chanting, “Cut it or shut it” and “We want less,” the activists directed their ire at Senate Democrats, arguing that the cuts they have demanded are not “extreme,” but necessary to right the nation’s fiscal ship. House GOP leaders “are doing the right thing in changing the direction of spending, but they’ve got to go further,” said Colin Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring, a conservative...

Washington (CNSNews.com) – House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said that conservative Republicans who oppose anything less than the significant budget cuts they promised their constituents were acting like “dictators” and were to blame for stalled budget negotiations. Harkening back to the government shutdown of 1996, Hoyer blamed what he called the “perfectionist caucus” for refusing to compromise, then and now. “The last time government shut down President Clinton was President of the United States,” Hoyer told reporters at his weekly media briefing. “And what happened then was the perfectionist caucus thought they would be the dictators and do it...

Some veteran Republican House members are pushing back against conservative deficit hawks who are pushing for endlessly deep spending cuts, saying the right wing of the party is creating unnecessary divisions for the GOP majority. While the 54 Republicans who voted against the most recent stopgap spending bill didn’t derail the legislation, some GOP lawmakers are becoming increasingly wary of a faction that rejects substantial spending cuts because they want deeper ones or the inclusion of divisive social policy riders. Many of the critics are close to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who struggles more each day to keep his majority...

Some veteran Republican House members are pushing back against conservative deficit hawks who are pushing for endlessly deep spending cuts, saying the right wing of the party is creating unnecessary divisions for the GOP majority. While the 54 Republicans who voted against the most recent stopgap spending bill didn’t derail the legislation, some GOP lawmakers are becoming increasingly wary of a faction that rejects substantial spending cuts because they want deeper ones or the inclusion of divisive social policy riders. Many of the critics are close to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who struggles more each day to keep his majority...

Sen. Jim DeMint released the following statement: Today, U.S. Congressman Mike Pence (R-Indiana) and U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) introduced the Tax Relief Certainty Act, a bill that would permanently extend the current individual income tax rates, which will expire on January 1, 2013, and permanently repeal the death tax. “Uncertainty is the enemy of prosperity,” said Congressman Pence. “By enacting a two-year extension on current tax rates, Congress merely extended the uncertainty that has stifled our economic growth. To encourage growth and job creation, Congress should act now to make all previous tax rates permanent and passing the...

Conservative insiders were not surprised by Indiana Republican Mike Pence’s decision not to run for president in 2012, but all agree his bowing out leaves the GOP nomination — in the phrase used again and again — “wide open.” One source familiar with the effort to recruit Pence tells National Review Online that while Pence “could have united the conservative movement,” his departure leaves a Republican field that “is never going to be as wide-open again.” “In six years or ten years it’s going to be an incredibly full field: The 2012 field is the Washington Nationals. Subsequent fields will...

He broke the news to supporters in a letter. Pence ended months of public speculation with a letter to supporters that he shared with the Indianapolis Star. In the choice between seeking national office and serving Indiana in some capacity, we choose Indiana,” the six-term House member wrote. I’ve worked with Rep. Pence a couple of times. He is exactly as he seems: genuine, humble, fair, smart, strongly patriotic and deeply committed to conservatism. He’ll make a great governor, and hopefully before long, a great president.

Mike Pence Not Running for President, Governor Bid Likely In a long-awaited announcement, pro-life Congressman Mike Pence will not seek the Republican nomination for president and will leave open the possibility of a gubernatorial bid. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/01/27/mike-pence-not-running-for-president-governor-bid-likely/

Three sources close to Republican Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana tell CNN they are told he will announce he is not running for president in 2012 and will instead begin exploring a run for governor. These sources say he has been flattered by the efforts to nudge him into the GOP presidential race but, as one of the sources put it, "he is a realist and kept coming back to questions about the fund-raising." The second source said some around Pence also have reminded him of the difficulty of mounting a presidential campaign from the House, and noted that, at...

There’s been a lot of chatter about Mike Pence and a potential Presidential bid by him. From National Review to the Washington Examiner, to George Will to others at the Washington Post, even to Erick’s post here on RedState, people are wondering will he or won’t he. Supposedly he’s making his decision this weekend about whether he will run for President or Governor of Indiana. I think he should run. While not denigrating the other potential GOP candidates for President in 2012, ask yourself: do any of them really excite you? That should clear out half the field right there,...

One of my favorite moments from my seven years of toiling happily at the Heritage Foundation came in 2006 just before I introduced Rep. Mike Pence as a speaker. As we sat together chatting, I casually asked him if he would run for president. His response was one of those “have you completely lost your mind” looks one rarely sees in public on the faces of politicians as cool, composed and competent as Pence. Then we both shared a laugh, I introduced him, and life went on, he to become chairman of the House Republican Conference and me to an...

Rep. Mike Pence addressed the anti-abortion March for Life on Monday, Rep. Michele Bachmann is set to keynote the event’s dinner tonight, and former Sen. Rick Santorum joined marchers in the cold—the only three potential Republican 2012 presidential hopefuls to appear at the annual gathering. “Our economy is struggling and our national government is awash in a sea of debt. Amidst these struggles, some would have us focus our energies on jobs and spending,” Pence, an Indiana Republican, told the thousands of activists who gathered in Washington to march to the Supreme Court to protest the 38th anniversary of Roe...

Any conservative who is flirting with the idea of supporting Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels for President should read this Politico puff piece on the potential presidential aspirant.  Jonathan Martin of Politico, in a piece titled, "Mitch Daniels: Heartthrob of the Elites", cites elitist columnists and publications that heap praise upon Mitch Daniels for his "gold-plated resume".  After discerning the type of pundits who admire Mitch Daniels, I am more certain than ever that he is not the man with the temerity, grit, or passion to battle the left.  Here is the opening of the article: If pundits and columnists represented...

Did you hear that Mike Pence is deciding whether to run for President? I urge everyone to come to www.TheConservativeChampion.org to find out more and sign our declaration cheering him on to get into the Most Important Presidential elections of our Lifetimes against Pres. Obama! Pence is the MAN who was the first -- and one of the few -- Congressman to stand up to Karl Rove's big government plans and ardently oppose the 2008 Wall Street bailout, back when it was the unpopular thing-to-do and you got attacked by the New York Times. Pence stood up against Rove's big...

# This Politico story about the group drafting Indiania Congressman Mike Pence to run for the GOP presidential nomination is full of interesting tidbits about Republicans' dissatisfaction with the rest of the field: An Indiana congressman with just five terms in public office, Pence is currently the subject of a draft movement—but he may well pick a gubernatorial run over a White House bid. . . . . The pro-Pence crowd consists of a group of traditional conservatives who, while sympathizing with her, don’t view Sarah Palin as a serious presidential candidate. They doubt Mike Huckabee will run again or...

To understand the dissatisfaction on the right with the current crop of Republican presidential hopefuls, look no further than Mike Pence. An Indiana congressman with just five terms in public office, Pence is currently the subject of a draft movement — but he may well pick a gubernatorial run over a White House bid. Nevertheless, a group of longtime Republicans — including former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and former Rep. Jim Ryun — are working with a well-connected conservative public relations firm to urge the congressman to head to Des Moines and Manchester instead of Indianapolis and Muncie. Their...

It sounds like the name of a barber shop quartet, doesn’t it? Anyway, as we reported on Tuesday a group of S.C. lawmakers led by Rep. Kris Crawford and Sen. Kevin Bryant are mounting an effort to “draft” U.S. Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana) into running for president in 2012. (To read our original story, click here). These lawmakers gathered on the steps of the S.C. State House on Wednesday to announce the formation of their group – and its Facebook and Twitter pages. “America is facing a serious crisis and we need a serious president,” said Crawford. “In order to...

Less than two weeks before Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., is expected to make an announcement about his political future, conservative leaders are urging him to jump into the 2012 presidential race. Within the last week, at least two draft Mike Pence groups have sprung up, including an effort spearheaded by former Rep. Jim Ryun, R-Kan., and former Reagan administration official Ralph Benko. "Seize this moment, Mike," Ryun, along with conservative leaders L. Brent Bozell, Dick Armey and Morton Blackwell, wrote in a letter they sent to Pence on Thursday. "Now is the time for you, as one of this generation's...

Mike Pence could become the “Madonna” of 2012. Remember the 1980s movie “Desperately Seeking Susan?” starring the pop icon? (Oy, I may be dating myself.) Well, there is a political movement out there that we might want to start calling, “Desperately Seeking Pence” There’s a “Draft Mike Pence” for president petition that has been put together and is circulating out there. (more on that here) and now there is a separate movement down in South Carolina to get Pence to run. More here. Watch the video below of some South Carolina legislators announcing their support for Pence. We should know...

House Republicans will vote to repeal the healthcare law "lock, stock and barrel," Rep. Mike Pence said Wednesday. The remarks by the Indiana Republican, who is thought to be mulling a White House run, shows not all lawmakers shying away from colorful rhetoric in the wake of the Arizona shootings earlier this month. Pence is also a conservative favorite, and the remarks could be seen as a play for the base. Pence made the comments as the House moved toward a vote Wednesday to repeal the healthcare law. “Today House Republicans are going to stand with the American people and...

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels may not be the only Hoosier seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2012. The rumors started swirling over the weekend that Rep. Mike Pence could be throwing his hat in the ring as well. Conservative leaders are certainly beating the drum for a Pence run. This week, Mr. Pence will receive a letter of support for a presidential bid from, among others, Dick Armey, a former Republican House majority leader; Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center; and Morton Blackwell, president of the Leadership Institute. There is also a petition circulating on the Internet...

The America’s President Committee wants Indiana congressman Mike Pence to run for president. The group — which is made up of former Republican congressman Jim Ryun and Ralph Benko, a former Reagan-administration aide and author of the book The Websters’ Dictionary: How to Use the Web to Transform the World — has set up a new site, The Conservative Champion, dedicated to the concept of Pence for President. Benko spoke to NRO about the motivation behind the site. NRO: Why Mike Pence? BENKO: Mike Pence is extraordinary. He is across-the-board rock solid: He is pro-growth in a way I haven’t...

Former House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) said today that he would soon reintroduce the Broadcaster Freedom Act, and that Congress should reject the idea of regulating political speech in the wake of the Arizona shooting over the weekend. Pence, who spoke on C-SPAN this morning, said his bill would prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from regulating content on the airwaves. In the last Congress, Pence introduced the Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2009, which would have prevented the FCC from requiring broadcasters to present opposing points of view, a concept known as the Fairness Doctrine.

Domenico Montanaro writes: A group of conservatives are pushing Indiana Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to run for president in 2012. America's President Committee kicks off today with a signature drive to get Pence, who's popular with social conservatives, to launch a 2012 White House bid. Behind the group are former Kansas Congressman Jim Ryun and is coordinated by Ralph Benko, a former Reagan deputy counsel, who worked with the Bush administration's White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives. “Throughout his distinguished career, Mike Pence has demonstrated the ability to enthusiastically advance the cause of conservatives and constitutional, limited government...

Rep. Mike Pence called it a "slippery slope" to connect guns at political rallies with the Tucson shootings over the weekend that included Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head. Pence referenced "the heat of the debate over the war in Iraq, when I saw people gathering on the national mall and waving placards that spoke strong opposition to the Bush administration." "All of that is what freedom is all about," he said. On C-SPAN's Washington Journal, Pence was asked by a caller why he had "no problem with" protesters showing up armed to political events, including one...

U.S. Rep. Mike Pence said Monday he'll announce within a few weeks what his political future might hold. NewsChannel 15 reported in November that sources close to Pence said the Indiana Republican will run for Indiana governor in 2012, but Pence and his staff refused to confirm that and said a decision had not yet been made. Pence has also been rumored to be considering running for president next year. He told The Republic newspaper during a Monday visit to Columbus that he plans to announce his political plans by late January. Pence stepped down from his leadership role in...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee enjoys the highest net-favorable impression with Republicans among potential candidates for president, a new poll said Monday. Huckabee is the Republican candidate with the largest margin between Republicans' favorable and unfavorable impression of him, a Gallup poll found, while other candidates struggled with low recognition rates. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich enjoys a 24 percent net-favorable rating at 24 percent, the poll found, followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 23 percent, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at 22 percent, Rep. Mike Pence (Ind.) at 19 percent, Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) at 18 percent, former...

House Republicans introduced legislation Friday that would prohibit abortion providers from receiving federal funds. Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana introduced the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act rounding up the GOP's pro-life agenda for this coming week. The bill has 122 co-sponsors. "I am grateful for the support of more than 122 original co-sponsors of this important legislation and look forward to voting to enact the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act," Pence announced in a statement. Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing family planning services such as screenings and preventative services such as...

Republican Mike Pence Introduces Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood and Other Abortion Providers That Receive Taxpayer Dollars Friday, January 07, 2011 By Penny Starr (CNSNews.com) – Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would prohibit abortion providers from receiving federal funds through Title X of the Public Health Service Act, including Planned Parenthood, which received more than $360 million in government grants and contracts in Fiscal Year 2008-2009. “The largest abortion provider in America should not also be the largest recipient of federal funding under Title X,” Pence said from the House floor...

So much for that all-Indiana schedule; Mike Pence seems to be keeping a toe in the national waters, Kasie Hunt reports: Pence joins a parade of other potential GOP 2012 hopefuls who have previously addressed the conference, now held in a key early primary state: Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Jim DeMint and Mitt Romney have all appeared.

Republican Conservatives View Indiana's Pence as Frontline Candidate for 2012 for His Potential to Unite Party Wings. When conservative activist and former presidential candidate Gary Bauer scans the potential 2012 Republican field, not much excites him. "All the obvious frontline names have all the usual pluses and minuses," Mr. Bauer says. But in considering one candidate, Mr. Bauer sees only qualities that he likes. Indiana Rep. Mike Pence is a military and fiscal hawk who frequently plugs his Christian credentials. To some, he's the potential candidate best able to unite two wings of the Republican Party—its fiscal conservatives and social...

Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana excites social and fiscal conservatives alike and will reportedly decide next month whether he will run for president or governor of his home state. Pence energizes pro-life advocates with his consistent pro-life push — including his drumbeat for revoking taxpayer funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business. Although members of Congress don’t normally rise to national prominence and just one has ever ascended to the presidency, Pence is defying the odds by building a solid national reputation that has him as one of the potential dark horse candidates who could vie for support against the...

It may be startling to imagine the American presidency as a train that “has run off the rails.” But that’s the metaphor Indiana Republican Mike Pence chose in a speech he gave at Hillsdale College on September 20 titled “The Presidency and the Constitution.” Elected last month to his sixth term in the House of Representatives, Pence also delivered a version of the speech in mid November to the Federalist Society in Washington. His sober thoughts on the presidency have been gaining notice in conservative circles, and it’s easy to see why.

ndiana Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh has decided against a run for governor in 2012, robbing Democrats of their top recruit in the Hoosier State. "After careful consideration, I have concluded that the appropriate decision is not to be a candidate for governor of Indiana in 2012," Bayh said in a statement released to the Fix. ""The principle reason for my decision is the welfare of my twin sons." Bayh's decision leaves the Democratic field wide open. Reps. Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill, both of whom lost races this fall, are likely to consider the Bayh-less contest. Others mentioned include Rep....

On a midweek afternoon in February 2009, a month into the Obama presidency, Republican Rep. Mike Pence arrived at Columbus in his east-central Indiana district for a town hall meeting, the sort of event that usually attracted a few dozen constituents. Surprised to see the hallway outside the room crowded with people, "their arms folded and brows furrowed," Pence shouted down the hall to an aide, asking him to get a janitor to open the room. The aide shouted back that the room was open - and overflowing. Congress had just passed the stimulus bill (Pence voted no), and Hoosiers...

"If Mike Pence keeps talking, the left will soon have to stop talking about Sarah Palin." That's according to the Detroit News' Nolan Finley's latest editorial. Finley goes on to note that "Mike Pence is no Sarah Palin. And that should worry the daylights out of the left." (Pence had recently spoken at the Detroit Economic Club.) The Pence admiration, of course, is not limited to one reporter in Michigan. Though the Indiana congressman says he won't decide whether to run for president until next year, conservative leaders I spoke to were equally as bullish on him. Chris Chocola, president...

George Will today aptly details why Mike Pence, a stalwart on fiscal issues and an articulate proponent of conservative social values, would be an attractive 2012 presidential candidate. I'll go a step further than George and predict that Pence will announce early next year. A close friend and confidante of Pence's has been telling me for several weeks that Pence is "serious." This friend makes the case that Pence is a solid conservative on the range of issues conservatives care about and is the only candidate who can "seamlessly meld" the sometimes adversarial Tea Party and establishment wings of the...

A former radio talk show host, Indiana Republican Rep. Mike Pence knows how to stay on message -- a skill he proved during the final push before the midterm election earlier this month when he spent three days bussing around the Hoosier State in support of local candidates. Since 2008, Pence has been the Republican Conference chairman, the third ranking member in the GOP House leadership and the member charged with keeping Republicans unified against congressional Democrats and President Obama. He demonstrated that ability on several occasions during a congressional term in which every House Republican voted against the stimulus...

Matt Lewis wonders. Though Pence says he won’t decide on whether or not to run for president until next year, conservative leaders I spoke to were equally as bullish on Pence.Chris Chocola, president of the powerful fiscally conservative Club for Growth tells me Pence may benefit from being less well known, and less of a lighting rod than Palin. He also notes that “[Pence's] conservative credentials are really unquestionable.�“[Pence] appeals to every group that Palin appeals to — and probably a little more,� says Chocola.“Pence is Palin with gravitas. Pence is Palin with experience,� adds Brent Bozell, chairman of For...

That's good news for those wanting to hear some fiscal sanity. Indiana 6th District U.S. Rep. Mike Pence has been hinting coyly for months that he might seek higher office. When he quit his House leadership role shortly after winning re-election, that put some substance behind the hints. But which race was he aiming at – the GOP gubernatorial primary or the presidential contest? It now appears it is the White House that Pence seeks, not the governor's mansion. In a major speech this week to the Detroit Economic Club, Pence laid out the major economic course he thinks this...

Just when you thought Ed Schultz couldn't get any grosser . . . On his MSNBC show this evening, Schultz bragged that by the time he was done with Mike Pence, the GOP congressman from Indiana would be "praying to the porcelain god." Schultz made his vulgar boast in a tease for a following "Psycho Talk" segment in which the MSNBC host took Pence to task for suggesting that Joe the Plumber had it right in 2008. View video here.

The third-ranking Republican in the U.S. House spoke before the Detroit Economic Club Monday afternoon. Indiana Congressman Mike Pence (R-6th District) addressed the group in Birmingham, Michigan. Rep. Pence was re-elected to the U.S. House in November, then announced he would be stepping down from his role as House Republican Conference Chairman. The decision prompted speculation of a possible run for the White House in 2012 or a run for governor. Monday's speech is expected to focus on Pence's "vision for economic growth, prosperity and job creation." Every president since Richard Nixon has visited the Detroit Economic Club before their...

Mike Pence Presses for De-Funding Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Congressman Mike Pence is pressing for support for his bill he expected to re-introduce in the next session of Congress to de-fund Planned Parenthood — and the abortion business is not happy. http://LifeNews.com/nat-6879

Mike Pence Presses for De-Funding Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz Congressman Mike Pence is pressing for support for his bill he expected to re-introduce in the next session of Congress to de-fund Planned Parenthood — and the abortion business is not happy. http://LifeNews.com/nat-6879