Pence Promises New Kind Of Congress
If GOPers retake the House this year, expect some big changes, according to House GOP Conference chair Mike Pence, in the way business is conducted.
In an interview with Hotline OnCall, Pence, the third-ranking GOPer in the House, blamed both parties for contributing to an overly-partisan atmosphere in DC. Under the GOP, he said, Congress will be more reflective of the country's immediate priorities.
"When we get this place back, we are precisely not ever going to do to [Dems] what they have done to us. Because frankly, it was heavy-handed tactics under Republicans that poisoned the process before 2006, and it's continuing to poison the process under Democrats," Pence said.
GOPers, he said, will look to outside groups as they compile a new list of priorities loosely modeled on the Contract with America. The document "should look like America, and not like Washington, DC," he said. Pence refused to discuss how far along in the drafting process new Contract is.
"We're going to welcome what groups like FreedomWorks are doing, what leaders like Newt Gingrich are doing. People at the grassroots and various organizations will be producing agendas and Republicans are going to be bringing our principles into those discussions," Pence said. "We've got an open mind, but not an empty mind. We know what we believe but we want to understand what the priorities of the American people are today, and then we'll make those the priorities of the new Republican majority."
After giving a well-received speech at CPAC, Pence reiterated his belief that the minority will retake the House in '10, and that a new wave of conservatives are headed to Capitol Hill. He does not regret his decision to sit out a race for Sen. Evan Bayh's (D-IN) seat, a choice he made just days before Bayh unexpectedly dropped out of the race.
But Pence wouldn't rule out the possibility of making a different run for higher office.
"Politics is full of distractions, and I think while speculation about the next presidential race is understandable, I think our party and our movement would do well to put off such discussions until after we retake Congress," he said.
Pence has spurred talk on Capitol Hill that he may challenge Pres. Obama in '12. Though his campaigns for re-election have never been close, he announced in Jan. that GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway will join his team. He also added Indianapolis atty Bill Neale as his treasurer, the same role Neale served for ex-VP Dan Quayle.
Pence has also racked up some frequent flier miles. He's traveled to SC, where he raised money for 2 GOP members of Congress; to IA to address a group of local GOP leaders; and he will headline the Hillsborough Co. GOP's Lincoln-Reagan Dinner in Bedford, NH on Mar. 19.
And though a WH bid isn't immediately on his mind, he says he has thought about the prospect "no more and no less than any other kid that grew up with a cornfield in his back yard. It's kind of what it is to be an American."
"We're going to welcome what groups like FreedomWorks are doing, what leaders like Newt Gingrich are doing."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
*sighhhhhh*
Wait, not done...
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHA HAHAHA HAHAHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh man... Hilarious.