Mike Pence is reportedly preparing to launch his 2024 campaign and will act as a “classic conservative” as he tried to “re-introduce” himself to the nation “as his own man.”
Pence, 63, has long teased the idea of a run and has long had questions about how closely he will align himself with his former boss Donald Trump.
Trump is currently comfortably ahead in the polls: FiveThirtyEight placed him at 52.5 percent, in their poll of polls, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis – who has yet to declare – at 21.9 percent.
Pence trails both by a wide margin, with just 5.7 percent of the support.
But the former Vice President’s team and allies told the New York Times they were not concerned about the early lack of enthusiasm.
Mike Pence can be seen giving a speech at the Federalist Society in Washington DC on April 25. He hopes to run for 2024 as a ‘classic conservative’
Donald Trump can be seen on Jan. 6, 2021, at the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the uprising at the Capitol. Trump accused Pence of abandoning him, and his supporters chanted: ‘Hang Mike Pence’
Trump supporters brought a gallows to the Capitol as they chanted, ‘Hang Mike Pence’
“This campaign will reintroduce Mike Pence to the country as his own man,” said Scott Reed, a veteran conservative strategist who led Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign.
Reed helps set up Pence’s super PAC, called Committed to America. “People know Mike Pence. They just don’t know him well,” Reed added.
Pence will deliver a speech Tuesday evening in New Hampshire – a vital state for early voting – where he will reportedly call for “free trade with free nations.”
The speech aims to position himself as a Reagan conservative, focused on free trade and hoping to win over the Christian right, fiscal conservatives and national security hawks.
Pence’s team also hopes he can make a strong showing in Iowa – the first state to vote in the primary, and one with a strong evangelical voter base that will likely be impressed by Pence’s own faith.
“Iowa feels more like Indiana than any other state in the union,” says Pence, a former governor of Indiana. “It just feels like home.”
Pence has set himself the goal of differentiating himself from his rivals by emphasizing budget tightening – targeting his former boss.
Trump is seen with Pence in November 2020, as he campaigns for re-election
Pence is seen at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 as it was overrun by people clamoring for his blood
“It’s quite remarkable that Joe Biden and Donald Trump have the same stance on fiscal solvency: the stance that they will never touch Social Security and Medicare,” he said.
He’s also at odds with Trump on abortion: Trump has said it’s a matter for the states, and last week CNN’s town hall refused to be guided by what it thought was the proper threshold.
Pence, who is strongly pro-life, has said repeatedly that he wants a nationwide ban on abortion.
“For the former president and others who are striving for the highest office in the country to delegate that issue to states — only I think it’s wrong,” he said.
His senior adviser, Marc Short, said Pence viewed a 15-week national ban as a “minimum threshold.”
Pence faces an uphill battle for the nomination, with much of the attention and fundraising so far focused on Trump and DeSantis, who plans his own entry into the race in the coming weeks.
The field also includes former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley; tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
South Carolina senator Tim Scott has formed a presidential scouting committee and is expected to formally launch his campaign next week.
Pence, seen in Salt Lake City on April 28, is expected to launch his campaign in the coming weeks
Pence’s team spoke specifically about Pence’s role on January 6, 2021, when he opposed Trump’s pressure campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election — a power Pence never held as vice president.
Pence was in a joint session of Congress to certify President Joe Biden’s victory when a violent mob of Trump supporters broke into the Capitol, smashed windows, forced doors and clashed with police.
Pence was rushed to safety in a Senate loading dock as some outside the building chanted, “Hang Mike Pence!”
Pence’s allies believe voters will be drawn to Pence’s defense of the Constitution.
Still, it remains unclear how salient that position will be in a party still dominated by the former president.
Much of Trump’s base will never forgive Pence for his actions that day, while many Trump critics view the former vice president as complicit in Trump’s most divisive actions.
a Quinnipiac University National Poll released in May found that 36 percent of Republicans nationwide rate Pence unfavorably — a higher unfavorable rating than Trump or DeSantis.