But He Just Couldn't Wait

Trump had announced that he [would] officially unveil his vice-presidential choice at 11am on Friday in New York but tweeted Thursday night: “in light of the horrible attack in Nice, France, I have postponed tomorrow’s news conference concerning my vice presidential announcement.”

  Guardian

And then tweeted today (Friday) that he's chosen Indiana's Pence.

Trump’s campaign chair, Paul Manafort, insisted the decision had not yet been made on Thursday. Later, Trump’s oldest son Donald Trump Jr said the same to NBC News.

[...]

Despite multiple outlets, including the Guardian, confirming that Trump has picked Pence to be his vice-president, he was still publicly indecisive Thursday night.

He couldn't have anyone else breaking the news and stealing his limelight.

[Pence] is not very popular in his home state, nor well known outside it, and though his conservative bona fides will help unite the party they may push away important swing voters, particularly suburban women.

[...]

He has supported free-trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is backed by Barack Obama and which Trump has called a “rape” of the US.

[...]

Pence has also attacked [Trump's] various calls to ban Muslims, or people from largely Muslim nations, from entering the US. “Calls to ban Muslims from entering the US are offensive and unconstitutional,” he tweeted in December.

[...]

Pence has also attacked the businessman’s various calls to ban Muslims, or people from largely Muslim nations, from entering the US. “Calls to ban Muslims from entering the US are offensive and unconstitutional,” he tweeted in December.

So what in God's name did he DO that caused Trump to choose him? Let me guess: everybody else is too well known. He can't share the stage.

Okay, assuming Trump doesn't renege, what do we know about Pence?

On many of the most important issues of our time, Pence is a hard-line right-winger.

[...]

In April, Gov. Pence signed into law a bill that forbids abortion on the basis of fetal chromosomal abnormalities, including Down syndrome, among other factors. The law further bans fetal-tissue donation — requiring any aborted or miscarried fetus to be cremated or buried. And it placed onerous restrictions on abortion providers nearly identical to those that the Supreme Court recently found unconstitutional in Texas.

[...]

In the wake of the massacre in Paris last fall, Pence issued an executive order to block the resettlement of Syrian war refugees in Indiana. Not content to keep new war widows and orphans out of the state, Pence upped the xenophobic ante by also trying to cut off federal aid to those already in the state. A federal judge blocked Pence's action.

[...]

Pence signed a bill to reinstating a mandatory minimum drug sentence. Many drug users sell drugs on the side to support their addictions. [...] Expressing his pleasure at signing a law stripping judges of discretion in drug sentencing, Pence declared, "We need to make it clear that Indiana will not tolerate the actions of criminals."

  Rolling Stone

I wouldn't have expected less.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.