NEOLA, Iowa (KMTV) — Pence has been on a marathon tour of Iowa this week, making more than a half dozen stops in the Hawkeye state to try and convince voters he should be the man leading the GOP’s charge against President Biden next November.
“I like him a lot, every time I’ve met him he is very personable I’ve had him sign different things for me,” said Naomi Corrie, a voter from Council Bluffs.
“He has a very professional stamina to himself and that’s what I'd like to see back in politics,” said Brandi Burkett, who came from Omaha to see Pence speak.
It's an opportune time for Pence’s campaign.
His two biggest rivals in the race, former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have both faced troubled campaigns.
Poll numbers for DeSantis continue to slide and Trump faces a federal indictment.
“I think President Joe Biden has weakened this country at home and abroad, and now more than ever we need new leadership in the Republican Party and new leadership in this country to bring this country back,” said Pence.
Since his campaign started Pence has tried to strike a balance between highlighting the accomplishments of the Trump and Pence administration and distancing himself from his former running mate.
He was quick to brag about the role he played in helping nominate three Supreme Court justices that he credits with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
But as much as Pence touted his accomplishments as Vice President he was quick to distance himself from the work of his former boss, in particular his work with foreign dictators.
“I never had any allusions about Vladimir Putin. In the Vice Presidential debate in 2016, I said Putin was the small and bullying leader of Russia and my opinion of that never changed. The President had his own approach to dealing with some of these dictators around the world and I'll leave him to defend that, ” said Pence.
Pence has a few more counties to hit before he visits all 99 and he promised he would be spending a lot more time in Iowa before the caucuses to convince voters that he has what it takes to run and overcome his former running mate.
“What brings us to this moment is that I truly believe, with all humility, that my years of experience as Vice President, and as governor and a member of Congress for 12 years that I would know what to do and who to do it with on day one to turn this country around,” said Pence.
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