After staying out of the political spotlight for the past two weeks, former Vice President Mike Pence is making a measured comeback.
Pence made headlines on Thursday when he announced that he was joining the Heritage Foundation as a distinguished fellow, and again on Friday with the announcement that he is entering into a partnership with the Young America’s Foundation.
The Heritage Foundation is one of the oldest and most influential think tanks on the conservative spectrum. And Young America’s Foundation is a well-known half-century-old conservative youth organization.
PENCE JOINS HERITAGE FOUNDATION, A HIGHEST CONSERVATIVE THINK TANK
The announcements came soon after Wednesday’s report that the former vice president had launched a transition agency.
The steps come ahead of what are expected to be more announcements in the coming days about ties to other well-known conservative organizations and the likely creation, in the coming weeks, of a nonprofit that would allow Pence to raise money for conservative causes .
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks after returning to his hometown of Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Pence has returned to his hometown in Indiana, where he told a small crowd that serving in the White House was the greatest honor of his life . Pence flew with his wife Karen in a government plane to Columbus Municipal Airport on Wednesday afternoon after attending President Joe Biden’s inauguration. (AP Photo / Michael Conroy)
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Pence’s announcements – a likely contender for the GOP nomination for 2024 – come as early steps are already underway into the 2022 midterm elections, when Republicans try to win back majorities in the House and Senate.
Marc Short, a close assistant and adviser to Pence who was then the vice president’s chief of staff for the past two years, told Fox News that for the next two years, Pence will likely be “very active” in helping fellow Republicans on the job. campaign trail. .
Pence is no stranger to campaign politics. He was elected to the House in 2000 and won reelection five times before winning the Indiana gubernatorial election in 2012. In the summer of 2016, he joined the Republican national ticket as Donald Trump’s running mate. Pence has also been a tireless campaigner for GOP candidates in the 2018 midterm elections and last year’s elections, as well as during the recently concluded two-month-long Georgia Senate wrap-up campaigns.
RETURNING TO INDIANA, PENCE SAYS ‘THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME’
Short said initial talks with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and his team are already underway about how Pence could be useful in the future, as well as with the Republican Governors Association. Pence served on the executive committee of the RGA during his tenure as governor of Indiana and has a close relationship with Arizona governor Doug Ducey, who recently took over as RGA chairman. Governmental elections will be held in 38 states over the next two years.
A Republican source in Pence’s job predicted, “I think you’ll find candidates going to be remarkably welcome for Mike Pence to come and campaign on their behalf.”
Campaigning for Republicans in next year’s elections would pay off when the next race at the White House officially kicks off after the 2022 midterms.
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“It’s a strategy that a number of presidential candidates have used over the years, who travel to the early primary and caucus states, ostensibly to help Republicans but really make friends, laying the groundwork for campaigns in the White House,” said the longtime GOP strategist Jim Merrill.
Merrill, a veteran of numerous Republican presidential campaigns based in the nation’s first presidential primary state, New Hampshire, added, “I expect we’ll see Pence here early and often in New Hampshire.”