Chris Campbell: Mike Pence must be held accountable for role in Donald Trump’s campaign

Although last night’s presidential debate had not yet happened as I’m writing this column, I can already tell you what happened: Republican nominee Donald Trump dodged the questions he was asked and instead recited some lines taken out of a conspiracy theorist’s Mad Libs, exciting his supporters and further alienating everyone else.

We can take comfort in knowing Trump’s probably not going to be the 45th president of the United States. His constant buffoonish antics have ranged from the comical to the downright dangerous, and have all been well-documented throughout the campaign. They’ve done little to help his standing with the American people: He remains far behind in the polls; his net favorability with voters has remained at historic lows, and he’s by far the most unpopular presidential candidate in modern history.

History will not look kindly upon Donald Trump. But that doesn’t mean far-right ideology is on the wane in the U.S., that Trump is necessarily a toxic figure or even that voters would necessarily reject Trump’s policy positions. His associates have enabled this reckless and destructive campaign yet have not drawn the same level of universal condemnation. We as Americans must hold accountable those who stand by Trump to the bitter end.

Specifically, Trump’s running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence. Despite his apparent role as the campaign’s fence-mender and credibility-lender, his embrace of the embattled businessman and right-wing policy positions mean that he’s not the respectable statesman he tries to portray himself as.

He’s as conservative as a big-name Republican can get on every issue from gun control to the economy to the culture wars. And despite attaching his name to the Trump campaign, endorsing his campaign’s positions and spending 90 minutes in a vice presidential debate trying to convince voters that the businessman would be a good president, Pence is still fairly well-liked: His net favorability remains better than that of Trump or their Democratic rivals, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine.

Pence’s popularity can be credited to the veneer of respectability Pence has managed to maintain, even as his running mate has spent months running a vitriolic Twitter campaign and remains implicated in an ongoing sexual harassment and assault scandal. When questioned about tapes of Trump’s sexually aggressive “locker room talk”, Pence said, “As a husband and father, I was offended by (Trump’s) words and actions.” Truly the words of a virtuous family man.

And Pence’s show at the debate was a virtuoso performance of deflecting Trump’s statements and putting his own innocent, aw-shucks Midwestern spin on the businessman’s often harsh campaign message. It takes serious talent to put on your biggest, saddest puppy-dog eyes, look straight into the camera and accuse the Clinton campaign of bullying Trump and the Republicans. And judging by the immediate post-debate reactions, he pulled it off marvelously.

Pence’s strategy is clear. By casting himself as the earnest Midwestern soccer dad, he can put himself in a better position to sell Trump’s policies – and, in four years, perhaps his own.

So far, it’s working. Republicans skittish about Trump’s judgment, temperament, morals and overall fitness for the presidency are eating up Pence. Conservative publication The American Spectator ran a blog piece calling Mike Pence a “big reason to vote for Trump.” Republican Senators Rob Portman, Ben Sasse and Mike Crapo are just three major players who have stated their support of Pence, but not Trump.

But if you think an eventual President Pence will promote moderation and sanity within the Republican party or Washington, you’ll be sorely disappointed. His policy positions are far to the right of the American mainstream. The American Conservative Union has given him a perfect 100 percent rating, indicating that he’s taken conservative positions on every issue. A Bloomberg examination of his record from July indicates questionable bipartisan bona fides. And his well-known stances on LGBTQ issues puts him far out of step with the American public on social issues.

And besides his far-right positions, he’s just really not that respectable. Whether or not he cares to admit it, Mike Pence has indeed hitched himself to Trump’s political fortunes and tactics. He’s embraced the “Make America Great Again” slogan – and all of the ideas and implications it involves. He went on CNN after Trump’s tapes went public and called his involvement with the Trump campaign the “greatest honor of his life”. And just a few days ago, he indulged Trump’s dangerous conspiracy theory that the election would be “rigged”, further undermining the integrity of the electoral process.

It doesn’t matter if he’s doing it for his political future, and it doesn’t matter if he thinks Clinton would be a worse choice. Pence knew good and well who Trump was when he decided to join him on the presidential ticket, and claiming to be offended by the outrageous things he’s said and done while retaining his full-throated support for a Trump presidency is not only disingenuous, but unbecoming of someone who may still run for president. Pence must be held accountable for his words and actions in this campaign, and we cannot allow him the future he’s apparently sacrificed his morals for.

In all honesty, we probably won’t have to worry about President Trump, and this election will just become another interesting tale to tell our children and grandchildren. Hopefully, however, in four years, the American people will know better than to fall for the charms of a potential President Pence.