Pence pick won't even matter: Mastio & Lawrence

Jill:

If Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is in fact Donald Trump’s pick for vice president, that settles one big question. Trump really does want to win.

Had he gone with fellow “pirate” Newt Gingrich, he would have left the distinct impression he was just looking for a good time. Why else present the nation with two candidates in their 70s, on their third wives, prone to saying whatever they want, whenever they want?

A choice of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also would have kept the want-to-win question on the table. If you’re serious, why create a ticket of two bombastic Northeastern candidates who are dogged by legal issues and, among social conservatives, by trust issues?

Like most vice presidential picks, Pence will not necessarily bring his home state into the Trump column. He had been in a tight reelection race and in May was under water with a 40% job approval rating.

And while Pence will no doubt reassure and energize the Christian right, his presence on the ticket brands it as traditionally conservative and Republican — in other words, not an option for Democrats who may be flailing around for anyone but Hillary.

Dave: Jill, your traditional analysis of how Democrats thinking of voting for Trump will react to the Pence pick completely misses the point. For 99.99% of voters, a veep pick isn’t going to make a dime-sized impact on the erratic billionaire’s allure. This election is not about traditional social issues or partisan labels or trans-gender bathroom access. It is about expressing frustration with Washington and delivering the message that things need to change.

For voters crazy enough to be lining up behind Trump — and the latest polls show there are more than we thought — this is irrelevant. If Trump picked a tofurkey as his running mate, his pitchfork wielding mob would simply chant “Pass the vegan soy no-cruelty gravy, please.”

All Pence can do is win: Tim Swarens

On the plus side, Pence … well, there is no plus side, either. The Trump brand overshadows (by far) the deep well of love and respect the Indiana governor has among the three voters who care deeply about allowing rural Indiana pizzerias to refuse to cater gay weddings.

Jill: David, I completely agree with you on what the election’s about. But the only way the Pence selection makes sense is in a traditional context.

Let’s face it, nothing says Republican establishment like Mike Pence. He muddles the blow-up-Washington message. And he muddles the cosmopolitan tolerance message.

Trump is not worried about gay marriage or transgender bathrooms. Pence at times has been a prime example of someone in a religious conservative bubble who does not understand why not just moderates and liberals but also the GOP business community would object so passionately to policies hostile to gay people.

If he is the first mate on Trump’s pirate ship, he is going to have to lead a mutiny or, far more likely, cave to the madness. As many a veep has learned, it’s the boss’s opinion that counts.

Dave: Who says it has to make sense in any context? Donald Trump might be upset about the tie that Gingrich was wearing when he got off the plane that Sean Hannity sent to fly the former speaker out for his latest meeting with Trump. The real estate tycoon may be using the pick to take sides in the feud between his loyal aides, his politically competent aides and his various children.

Everyone knows that Trump’s opinion will be the one that matters, but maybe the veep will be the one that gets to pick which Trump's opinion matters: 1980s Trump, Nancy-Pelosi donor Trump, corporate welfare queen Trump, Reform Party presidential candidate Trump, Planned Parenthood Trump or fuming anti-Muslim isolationist Trump.

My daughters have a three-generation Barbie doll collection, and I am sure that before long there will be just as many Trumps as there are underfed plastic fantasy girls in my ex-wife’s basement. As if to prove the point, just as we were posting this, one of those Trumps tweeted that he (they?) were postponing the official veep roll out after what appears to be yet another horrific terror attack in France.

David Mastio, a libertarianish conservative, is the deputy editor of USA TODAY's Editorial Page. Jill Lawrence, a center-leftish liberal, is the commentary editor of USA TODAY. Follow them on Twitter @DavidMastio and @JillDLawrence.

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