With Pence Out, Republican Presidential Field Open

Conservative insiders were not surprised by Indiana Republican Mike Pence’s decision not to run for president in 2012, but all agree his bowing out leaves the GOP nomination — in the phrase used again and again — “wide open.”

One source familiar with the effort to recruit Pence tells National Review Online that while Pence “could have united the conservative movement,” his departure leaves a Republican field that “is never going to be as wide-open again.”

“In six years or ten years it’s going to be an incredibly full field: The 2012 field is the Washington Nationals. Subsequent fields will be the 1927 New York Yankees,” the source says.

“The question is: Does this cause people to rethink? Does this make Jim DeMint rethink? Does anyone who feels disappointed in the current field rethink? It’s never been easier or cheaper to communicate with millions of people.”

While ruling himself out, Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.) agreed, telling NRO that with the congressman gone as a paragon of “pro-growth, limited-government” conservatism, “there will be a lot of surprises” in terms of who jumps into the race.

According to sources close to Pence with knowledge of Indiana politics, a number of factors influenced the congressman’s decision to forgo a presidential run and instead turn his attention toward a possible gubernatorial run.

One source who met with Pence several times over the last few months tells NRO the conservative Hoosier “was extremely torn while he deliberated.” Another who met with Pence feels his heart was never completely in a bid for president.

Someone close to Pence explains that “the people closest to him, the friends and people he knew best from Indiana, wanted to see him come back to Indiana.” By contrast, “the support for him to run nationally was in large part from leaders of the national conservative movement” — who perhaps didn’t have the same sway as his longtime supporters.

Pence’s young family — he has three school-aged children — were also a factor in his decision, according to this source.

Then there was the difficult timing and the uncertainty of a presidential run. Because of his relatively low name recognition, the window for Pence to begin a blitz on early battleground states was closing rapidly. He would have had to kick into high campaign gear quickly — and without knowing whether Sarah Palin or other conservatives might jump into the race and overshadow him in his quest for the Tea Party vote.

Compared with all that, a run for governor seems simple. With the announcements that neither former senator Evan Bayh (D.) nor current lieutenant governor Becky Skillman (R.) would run to succeed Mitch Daniels, Pence, 51, became easily the most well-known, and well-liked, of potential candidates.

Indeed, the Republican Governors Association has been aggressively recruiting Pence to hold the Indiana executive mansion. RGA head Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and vice chairman Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia both put in calls to Pence urging a run.

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