Parsing Pence

Why did Donald Trump choose the Neo-Con Michael Pence to be his running mate in 2016? It's just not a good ideological fit. Despite appearances, I question his loyalty, and am curious to see if Trump keeps him in play as his 2020 running mate. My guess is that he will keep a known adversary close and keep him on. Someone like General Michael Flynn would have been a more appropriate running mate. The answer has to be backroom politics, as usual. Compromise to get where you want to go.

Trump picked Pence in July and by October the Globalists (DEMs, RINOs, Never Trumpers, etc) were in a panic because Trump was actually gaining ground on the Globalist pick – Hillary Clinton. Time was running out and their options were limited. So Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan came up with a plan for hijacking the presidential election in the event Trump actually won over Clinton.

There were a lot of Neo-Cons in the cabinet from the outset (Pompeo, Coats, Haley, Perry, Cohn, Preibus, and more brought on later). I used to wonder why. All of them resulted from what has become known as the Pence/Cleveland Deal. Speaker Paul Ryan was about to change the rules to allow delegates to vote however they wanted on the first ballot at the Convention. Had this been permitted, Trump would never have been nominated. Never. So how could Ryan alone change it? The rules had to be voted on by delegates. And they would have voted for it had Ryan allowed it to come to a vote. But he did not because of a leveraged backroom deal. This Cleveland Deal included Mike Pence and Paul Ryan being able to subsequently pick Trump’s initial cabinet should he win.

Pence and Ryan were never on the Republican ballot so it is a wonder why they would be discussing hijacking the election. It might be because they already knew some of their past sins as Globalists were well known and discussed by the Trump election team. By this time, they were already aware Hillary’s lead was slipping dramatically and that most Bernie Sanders fans were not about to vote for Hillary.

What options did they have to sway voters and insure the globalist plan continued to move forward as many of their financial backers insisted? As the election nominee process evolved on the Republican side, the RINOs and Never Trumpers were apoplectic at the thought Trump might actually win the nomination, and with General Flynn as a VP they knew their days would be numbered in single digits. So Trump ended up with Mike Pence, a Globalist, as his running mate, and a Cabinet full of Neo-Con's, all in a hedged trade for Ryan not changing the rules in the Cleveland Deal made just before the Republican National Convention.

Trump was elected and the Neo-Cons kept both feet in the White House... at least at the beginning.