I am heartened that Donald Trump has picked a scary right-wing guy as his choice for running mate. Hard-core conservatives were never going to vote for a Democrat anyway, so Trump didn’t actually need to shore up support from the hyper-Calvinist right.
But now he has left the great undecided middle to Clinton, assuming she picks a centrist as her VP. Voters wary of radical politics in either direction will then have an easy choice.
This isn’t about the prospect of a Trump presidency per se. After all, if the Donald gets into the Oval Office, he’s not likely to influence policy all that much, since he doesn’t actually understand policy or government or all that complicated stuff that doesn’t fit into 140 characters.
Yes, he will probably paint the White House with the giant letters “TRUMP”. But I’m not sure he will actually do anything else, except perhaps try to enforce Article XII of the U.S. Constitution.
No, this is about what happens if anything were to happen to The Donald, and Mike Pence became president. If you’re LGBT, you’d better forget about the last 20 years of social progress. But if you’re a business that discriminates against LGBT citizens (or, for that matter, refuses to hire Jews because they offend your Christian beliefs), then Pence’s track record shows that he is totally your guy.
Also forget about abortion rights. And if you are a low income family, be afraid. Be very afraid. Mike Pence really does not like low income families. Forget about a decent minimum wage or adequate health coverage for your kids.
I’m hoping all of this means that millions of undecided voters will turn against Trump, out of a sense of self-preservation. Even if he is entertaining in a “What if Al Bundy ran for president?” sort of way.