Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump joins his running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on stage after Pence spoke to the Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Donald Trump will formally accept the Republican Party's nomination for president on Thursday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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CLEVELAND, July 20 (UPI) -- Indiana Gov. Mike Pence addressed the Republican National Convention -- and millions of Americans -- for the first time Wednesday, presenting himself as a pragmatic conservative with a strong record on economic development.
Pence, who GOP nominee Donald Trump selected as his running mate last week, is largely unknown to most American voters. More than half in surveys released since he was named to the ticket said they have no opinion of the first-term governor and former congressman.
So when he strode on stage following a glowing introduction from House Speaker Paul Ryan, the Midwesterner's first order of business was to introduce himself and his family to Americans.
"I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican -- in that order," Pence said.
He joked his even-keeled, sometimes unexciting demeanor stands at odds with the brash Trump.
"He's a man known for a large personality, a colorful style and lots of charisma, and so I guess he was just looking for some balance on the ticket," Pence joked.
Pence, 57, is married to his wife of 31 years, Karen, and the couple has three children including a son serving in the Marines.
He boasted of Indiana's economic record, saying the Hoosier State had managed to create jobs while also cutting taxes and increasing spending on infrastructure, education and health care.
Speaking about the election, Pence promised a Republican ticket that, in line with Trump's signature slogan, would revive American greatness, while also stopping Democrat Hillary Clinton from becoming president.
He was critical of economic policies put in place by President Barack Obama that he said trample on individual liberty and have led to economic stagnation.
"They tell us this economy is the best that we can do. It's nowhere near the best that we can do, it's just the best that they can do," Pence said.
He presented Trump as the quintessential political outsider more in tune with an American electorate seeking change than Clinton, a career politician who has deep ties to the Washington establishment.
"If the idea was to present the exact opposite of a political outsider, the exact opposite of an uncalculating truth-teller, then on that score you've got to hand it to the Democratic establishment. They outdid themselves this time. At the very moment when America is crying out for something new, and different the other party has answered with a stale agenda and the most predictable of names," Pence said.
Pence was greeted on stage by Trump, who did not speak, but who posed with the candidate briefly at the close of festivities on night three of the Republican convention.
Trump is scheduled to close the gathering Thursday with his official acceptance speech sometime after 10 p.m. Eastern.
