CLEVELAND – Mike Pence quickly accepted the Republican
vice presidential nomination and then showed why Donald Trump picked him as his
running mate, harkening to his Midwestern roots to appeal to GOP voters to
unite against Hillary
Clinton – rallying the faithful ahead of Thursday night’s
crowning of Trump as the party standard-bearer.
The Indiana governor
dubbed the presumptive Democratic nominee “America’s secretary of the status
quo,” and called 2016 a “time for choosing.”
His address was the
rally point Republicans were hoping would come from Trump’s ex-primary rival
Ted Cruz, who faced angry boos from the crowd Wednesday night as he stopped
short of an endorsement in his own prime-time speech.
Though Cruz
congratulated Trump on his win, some delegates prodded him toward the end to
throw his support behind the nominee, chanting “Trump, Trump” – Cruz paused,
but closed his address with no endorsement. Cruz urged Americans to vote their
“conscience,” without naming Trump.
Republican Party
officials later told Fox News the speech was “classless.” One senior GOP
operative said, "I'm speechless."
Technical glitches
with the arena’s monitors also created some problems. But Trump soon entered
the arena, his son Eric delivered a speech returning the focus to the party’s
presidential nominee – and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich delivered a
rousing address to set the stage for Pence.
Gingrich even
effectively delivered an endorsement on Cruz’s behalf. He told the restless
crowd that since Cruz told Americans to vote their conscience for anyone who
can uphold the Constitution, there’s only one choice.
“So, to paraphrase
Ted Cruz,” Gingrich said, “if you want to protect the Constitution of the
United States, the only possible candidate this fall is the Trump-Pence
Republican ticket.”
Drawing a sharp
contrast between Trump and Hillary Clinton, Pence then echoed the message of
party leaders the night before: It’s Trump or Clinton in November, so pick a
side.
“The choice couldn’t
be more clear. Americans can elect someone who literally personifies the failed
establishment in Washington, D.C., or we can choose a leader who will fight
every day to make America great again,” Pence said.
He added, “It’s
change versus status quo, and my fellow Republicans, when Donald Trump becomes
president of the United States of America the change will be huge.”
Pence appealed to
voters Wednesday to “resolve here and now that Hillary Clinton will never
become president of the United States of America.”
Calling Trump the
“genuine article” and a “winner” who “never backs down,” he also said Trump is
the candidate to confront radical Islam, cut taxes, grow the economy, shrink
the bureaucracy, enforce immigration law and appoint Supreme Court justices who
will uphold the Constitution.
While Pence, met
with chants of “We like Mike,” made an impassioned case for the billionaire
businessman, all eyes were on Cruz Wednesday night amid speculation over
whether the Texas senator would use the convention dais to formally endorse his
former rival.
He didn’t. His only
mention of Trump was to congratulate him.
It seemed toward the
end he might be considering the crowd’s noisy appeals, but he concluded by
saying, “We will unite the party, we will unite the country by standing
together for shared values, by standing for liberty.”
Still, his speech
included a few nods to Trump’s message, including a call to build a border wall.
His appearance at all on the Cleveland stage represented a reconciliation of
sorts, and even without an endorsement, he appealed to voters to get to the
polls.
“To those listening,
please, don’t stay home in November,” he said. “If you love our country … stand
and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket
who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.”
The carefully worded
speech was delivered at a time when Cruz is widely believed to be positioning
himself for another presidential run, be it four or eight years down the road.
He is no doubt mindful that a full-throated endorsement of Trump could haunt him
in the next cycle – and it seemed unlikely by Wednesday morning he would
deliver one, when Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort offered no expectation
of that happening.
The non-endorsement
reflected the nastiness of their own primary battle, one that saw Cruz and
Trump square off all the way into May in a rivalry replete with name-calling
and trash-talk.
Some delegates in
the convention hall remained loyal to Cruz to the end, and he received the
second-highest tally during the formal nomination proceedings Tuesday night.
Cruz centered his
remarks Wednesday around what he called a “return to freedom.”
“Freedom means that
every human life is precious and must be protected,” he said. “Freedom means
Supreme Court Justices who don’t dictate policy, but instead follow the
Constitution.”
Afterward, delegate
reaction was mixed. One North Carolina delegate who spoke to FoxNews.com voiced
disappointment with how Cruz was treated.
A Texas delegate
said Cruz “hurt” the party by not endorsing.
A source close to
Cruz responded to GOP officials who criticized the non-endorsement.
"It's not
classless to compliment Trump for winning,” the source said. “It's not
classless to highlight areas policy where they can work together like border
security, trade or fighting ISIS. It's not classless to call on all his
supporters to not stay home but turnout."
Another ex-primary
candidate Marco Rubio made a brief appearance, via video message, right before
Cruz spoke, saying, “The time for fighting is over.”
Former 2016 candidate
and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker spoke shortly before Rubio, with the message,
“America deserves better than Hillary Clinton.”
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