--- title: Mike Pence Excites Social Conservatives For Donald Trump description: A relief after months of concern canonical: https://time.com/4415908/mike-pence-donald-trump-evangelicals/ author: Elizabeth Dias article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-20T22:25:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-06T09:42:35.971Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mike Pence Excites Social Conservatives For Donald Trump og:description: A relief after months of concern og:url: https://time.com/4415908/mike-pence-donald-trump-evangelicals/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt452c5c3dfbac80e0/69889cd9656a3f2e32bcc5fb/mike-pence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2625 og:image:height: 1477 og:image:alt: GOP 2016 Convention og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mike Pence Excites Social Conservatives For Donald Trump twitter:description: A relief after months of concern twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt452c5c3dfbac80e0/69889cd9656a3f2e32bcc5fb/mike-pence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mike Pence Excites Social Conservatives For Donald Trump > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=4ca05e97-f731-4a2a-adf0-c94068fd9be7&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch Mike Pence Speak at the Republican Convention [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Mike Pence Speak at the Republican Convention](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/efUty1iF.m3u8) (2:17)  _Published 2016-07-21. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence made his national debut with a speech at the Republican national convention with a self-deprecating speech that focused on his running mate, Donald Trump._ by [Elizabeth Dias](https://time.com/author/elizabeth-dias/) ## Elizabeth Dias Jul 20, 2016 10:25 PM UTC by [Elizabeth Dias](https://time.com/author/elizabeth-dias/) ## Elizabeth Dias Jul 20, 2016 10:25 PM UTC Marjorie Dannenfelser was traveling to a Council for National Policy meeting last week with a longtime Mike Pence advisor when she heard the news that Donald Trump had picked the Indiana governor as his running mate. Ever since Trump won Indiana in early May, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List and many other social conservative leaders have been weighing how Trump would handle their policy priorities, on everything from abortion to judicial nominees. But with Pence, there is no need to wonder—for the last two cycles Dannenfelser even tried to recruit him to run for president. “Honestly, I began to breathe an exhale, and start to think, okay, we can accomplish this,” she says. “It’s really hard to run an election on reluctant ascent. If you can’t win your base, you can’t win. … It’s a whole new ballgame now.” Now as social conservatives gather in Cleveland for the Republican National Convention, they are finding in Pence new momentum to motivate their base for the general election. At a luncheon for top social conservative activists and donors hosted by the Susan B. Anthony List and Family Research Council Action on Wednesday—a moment when speakers would normally be championing the Republican nominee—the vice presidential candidate was a more common theme. The room applauded when Senator Deborah Fischer of Nebraska called Pence a piece of “really excellent news.” Kansas governor Sam Brownback reassured the group that the Supreme Court “is worth it all,” and continued, “Mike Pence is a good friend of mine… a solid prolife guy. This should really give you some heart.” Congresswoman Virginia Foxx of North Carolina encouraged the gathering to press onward. “If Christians are not involved, we leave it to the Philistines, and I am not willing to do that,” she said, referring to an enemy group in the Bible. “You are doing God’s work.” The message largely resonated with key players in the room. Ellen Barrosse, national committeewoman for Delaware and a Republican donor who backed Cruz early, is very encouraged. “I think Pence is going to give Trump very good advice,” she says. “Pence has worked for change very effectively in Indiana, he has been a great champion on the life issue, he has been fantastic for their economy, and he knows how to work with legislature.” Carolyn McLarty, national committeewoman for Oklahoma who also was an early Cruz supporter, hopes Pence’s longtime conservative record will rub off on Trump. “I hope Pence can influence Trump to make solid, conservative decisions and appointments,” she says. “I’m praying that Trump will surround himself with good people. I don’t know if he has yet.” At a lunch honoring longtime conservative activist Phyllis Schlaffly in Cleveland on Tuesday, Rebecca Hagelin, former vice president of the Heritage Foundation, glowed over the Pence news. Unlike Trump’s promises to appoint certain judges and enact certain tax plans, she says, choosing Pence is a “solid action,” a sign he will follow through on his prolife commitments. “This gives me hope that maybe Donald Trump is becoming more conservative,” she says. “How could I not do everything possible to get someone like Mike Pence elected vice-president?” Just because Trump has now checked social conservatives’ top three boxes—vice presidential pick, Republican platform support, and judicial nominee selection—doesn’t mean he is totally in their clear. If Trump were to go against one of his commitments in a debate with Clinton, Dannenfelser says, it would be “demoralizing” for the social conservative ground game. But the foundation Trump has is now stronger. “We would correct him, and then I think he would correct himself,” she says. “The limits, and potential of our ability do our job, are in his hands.” And while Pence may make supporting Trump easier for social conservative leaders, even he may not be their real rallying point. “I can do this because of Hillary,” Barrosse says. “The calculus is pretty simple: this is deadly serious stuff.” ## Transcript I accept your nomination to run and serve as vice president of the United States of America. With this united party, he's got backup, and on November 8th, I know we will elect Donald Trump to be the 45th president of the United States of America. This election comes down to just two names on the ballot, so let's resolve Here and now that Hillary Clinton will never become President of the United States of America. [ APPLAUSE ] And where else would an independent spirit like his find a following than in the land of the free and the home of the brave? [ APPLAUSE ] And my fellow Republicans When Donald Trump becomes president of the United States of America the change will be huge. [ APPLAUSE ] Every American should know that while we're filling the presidency for the next four years, this election will define the Supreme Court for the next 40. [ APPLAUSE ] And it was Hillary Clinton who left Americans in harm's way in Benghazi. And after four Americans fell, said, what difference, at this point, does it make? [ APPLAUSE ] And if the world knows nothing else, it will know this. America stands with Israel. [ APPLAUSE ] We are as we have always been one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. This is. Another time for choosing. We have but one choice and that man is ready. This team is ready. Our party is ready and when we elect Donald Trump the forty- fifth President of the United States, together we will make America great... Again. 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