Why Mike Pence is a gutsy choice for Trump

FILE -- Indiana Governor Mike Pence and Donald Trump (AP)

Well Donald Trump has passed his first big test as a presidential nominee with flying colors.

The choice of Mike Pence of Indiana to be his running mate should all but erase any remaining doubts among conservatives about Donald Trump’s political leanings.

The Indiana governor and former U.S. House Republican leader has nearly impeccable free market and social conservative credentials. He is not just a champion of the cause of liberty – from pro-life to supply side tax cuts – he’s proven to be a warrior. Who better to be one heartbeat away from the Oval Office?

Now will the “never-Trumpers” on the right please shut up?

Pence softens Trump’s rough edges. He is a policy wizard who will fill the Trump cupboard with solutions to immigration, college tuition costs, government debt, terrorism, declining incomes, social unrest and the panoply of things that have gone wrong in America in the age of Obama.

It’s a gutsy pick. Mr. Pence is an unflinching conservative who will be cannon fire for the left media. The Washington Post already sneered that Pence is a "conservative ideaologue." When is the last time the media refered to a liberal as a "leftwing ideologue?"

Well, bring it on. Pence has been a stellar governor. He has balanced budgets, cut taxes, slimmed government and made it more customer friendly.

Along with fellow economist Arthur Laffer, I do an annual rating of the states on their economic/fiscal policies. No state has improved more on the index over the last four years than Indiana. That’s a great tribute to Pence’s values and leadership skills.

If the theme of this contest is jobs and growth, Pence’s performance in Indianapolis is a case study in how free market ideas and tax cuts work.

Here is another example of his spine of steel. Mike Pence led the Republican fight against the Bush Medicare prescription drug bill and almost successfully killed that budget buster. He did it even though he was told this was destroy his political career. (That was clearly wrong!) He did it even though he was bribed with all sorts of favors and career boosters if he would only toss aside his principles and toe the party line. He didn’t cut and run – as many of his colleagues did.

He had a near-100 percent rating with American Conservative Union. He’s a budget hawk, tax cutter, strong on defense Reaganite. He used to love to say: “What we really need from government is less of it.”

His ferocious attacks against ObamaCare and the massive $800 billion debt “stimulus” bomb that Obama dropped in his first months in office helped launch the Tea Party movement in America.

He is the perfect alter-ego for Donald Trump. Trump is bluster and showmanship and the classic New York street fighter and counter-puncher. It is what so many voters love about him:  toughness.

Pence is the ultimate gentleman politician. He exudes Midwestern Hoosier values. Sincerity. Kindness. Honesty. Fair play. Say what you mean, and mean what you say.

All of the virtues, by the way, that Hillary Clinton lacks.

When I started Club for Growth many years ago, the second candidate we backed was Mike Pence in 1998 when he ran for Congress. He won and has won every election since then.

Sometimes Republicans “grow in office” and become more liberal over time. Unlike most politicians, Pence has his feet on the ground and not his head in the clouds. He’s a good person with a heart of a lion. I’ve always been proud to call him a friend.

This will be one of the most consequential elections of modern times. The stakes are seismic with Hillary Clinton promising four more dismal years of Obamanomics. She has not a single new idea, and, as even the Washington Post has put it, she is the ultimate “status quo candidate.” She has tried to exploit Trump’s rough edges. She says he’s not fit for office, which is an amazing claim coming from a women who has spent her whole career sprinting ahead one half step ahead of the law.

Pence softens Trump’s rough edges. He is a policy wizard who will fill the Trump cupboard with solutions to immigration, college tuition costs, government debt, terrorism, declining incomes, social unrest and the panoply of things that have gone wrong in America in the age of Obama.

Trump-Pence. Now that’s a ticket that really can make America great again.