Trump's Republican Party Is Bound to Religious Right

Once again, 2016 is making us rewrite the political rulebooks. We learned in May that you can win the Republican presidential nomination while saying that the Iraq war was based on a lie and praising socialized medicine. Now we’re seeing that you can get the vice-presidential nomination by being a red-state governor so politically weak that your endorsement doesn’t matter in your own state’s presidential primary and you are at risk of losing re-election.

Weakness may even have been a recommendation for Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana and Trump’s pick. He meets what is probably an important Trump criterion for a running mate: He will not overshadow the boss. Newt Gingrich, who was also under consideration, is an interesting figure in his own right. Pence won’t draw the same attention Gingrich would have. Political weakness also made Pence interested in taking the job. It’s no accident that Trump’s reported list contained no one with a thriving political career.