Still much to learn about Pence

Listening to the first State of the State address by Gov. Mike Pence, what was striking was the gap between what’s known about Pence and what’s unknown.
What’s known about Mike Pence is that he’s a consistent conservative. He was fiscally prudent long before it was cool. He opposed earmarks long before most of Congress.
But what’s unknown is how he’s likely to govern, how he’s likely to lead, and how he’ll interact with the legislative branch.
As a member of Congress, Mike Pence wasn’t much known for building coalitions or deal making.
On the contrary, he made his mark by staking out an ideological point of view and sticking with it.
It’s hard to guess how that’s going to translate into getting an agenda through the Indiana General Assembly.
As head of the executive branch, the new governor has countless decisions and appointments to make. And each decision or appointment will have an impact on how state government interacts with its citizens.
As a member of Congress, he had the luxury of taking stands that never translated into actual legislation. Executive branch government can be a whole lot messier.
Whatever form Pence’s style of governance takes shape, it’s unlikely to resemble that of Mitch Daniels.
Our guess is that where Mitch was hands-on and full-speed-ahead, driving a top-down agenda, Gov. Pence is going to allow the legislative branch to flex its own muscles a bit.
Staying a little above the fray while still setting a tone and expressing a clear political philosophy sounds much more like the Mike Pence we’ve watched over the years. And strangely enough, it sounds like another governor from another party a few years back, a guy named Evan Bayh. — J.R.

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