CANTON, Ga. — Vice President Mike Pence returned to the campaign trail on Friday, hitting the stump for Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler after two weeks of ducking the spotlight and largely staying silent while President Donald Trump rages about their election loss.
Pence, who has tried to position himself as one of Trump’s loyal allies while distancing himself from some of the more outrageous rhetoric, attempted to make the case for the Georgia candidates amid a tumultuous transition besieged by Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud and his refusal to concede — presenting Pence with perhaps the biggest test of his political career.
“We need the great state of Georgia to defend the majority,” Pence said on Friday, alluding to a Biden presidency while being careful not to appear like he was getting ahead of Trump. “The Republican Senate majority could be the last line of defense for all that we’ve done.”
Pence also briefly flirted with Trump’s fraud allegations but stopped short of endorsing the baseless claims, telling the crowd “we are going to keep fighting until every legal vote is counted; we’re going to keep fighting until every illegal vote is thrown out.”
“And whatever the outcome, we will never stop fighting until we make America great again,” he added.
Pence will be Trump’s No. 2 for a bit less than nine weeks, leaving him to contend with his own political path forward — including whether to run for president in 2024 — and how to chart his own course with or without Trump’s supporters.
Pence can begin “to position himself as the titular head of the loyal opposition,” said Barry Bennett, a Republican strategist who worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“What happened in the House tells us that the president’s policies were quite popular. His personality, obviously, was not helpful with some voters,” Bennett said. “But if Pence can run on the policies and not have the baggage of the image problem, he’ll do quite well.”
The GOP case for Perdue and Loeffler rests in part on acknowledging that President-elect Joe Biden will be in the White House next year and arguing that a Republican Senate is needed to keep him in check. Perdue and Loeffler are both locked in competitive runoff races in January that will determine which party controls the Senate.
But few Republicans, including Pence, have been willing to publicly spell out that reality out of fear that it could anger Trump and might risk upsetting his base supporters, who have become a critical part of the party’s coalition.
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Instead, Republicans have contorted their messaging, urging supporters to vote Republican to make sure the Green New Deal is not passed and to keep Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico from becoming states — stopping short of saying those hypothetical situations could become realities only with a Democrat in the White House.
Messaging intended to generate attention to Pence’s trip made no mention of Biden, a stark break from the GOP messaging that has centered on attacking Democratic Party leaders in the Trump era. Instead, Pence and Georgia Republicans tweeted out links inviting supporters to sign up to attend “Defend the Senate” and “Save Our Majority” rallies.
Jon Thompson, who was Pence’s spokesman on the campaign, said “the best message for Vice President Pence to deliver is that Senators Perdue and Loeffler are the last line of defense in protecting the Senate from a far-left agenda.”
“You could argue that message eventually shifts to: Their election victories would result in a Senate GOP majority that provides a major check on Joe Biden’s presidency,” Thompson said.
Pence had presidential ambitions before he become vice president, and he is viewed as a top candidate for the Republican nomination in 2024. But how he handles Trump in the coming weeks could shape his reputation within the party.
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Many Republicans view the Georgia Senate runoffs as testing grounds for 2024. Prospective candidates — from former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida — have already campaigned here in recent days.
“Georgia is the first real test of the 2024 presidential election. Numerous potential ’24 candidates are descending on the state to not only encourage turnout and advocate for Perdue and Loeffler, but to be seen and heard in what is right now the political center of the universe,” Thompson added.
Pence, so far, has navigated Trump’s post-election presidency in much the same way he did the president’s entire tenure. He has been cautious not to throw his full support behind Trump’s voter fraud claims — baseless attacks against democratic institutions that might not reflect well on the party in the future — while trying to appear unquestionably loyal.
Pence stood by Trump’s side on election night, but, speaking for less than a minute, he danced around Trump’s claims of “major fraud.”
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“As the votes continue to be counted, we’re going to remain vigilant, as the president said,” Pence said, at the White House as results came in. “We’re going to protect the integrity of the vote.”
Pence has also been noticeably absent from the Trump campaign’s legal challenges to the election results in battleground states, even as other allies of the president rushed to defend the lawsuits on cable news and dutifully appeared at news conferences echoing Trump’s claims of fraud.
Looming over Pence and the rest of the presidential hopefuls is Trump’s talk of running again in 2024. His defeat means he could seek a second nonconsecutive term — a feat that has been accomplished by only one president — which would gum up efforts by other candidates to mount campaigns and create a messy Republican primary season.
“I expect Donald Trump to talk about running again all the way up to the day the filing deadline has passed. There’s power, and frankly it gathers attention,” Bennett said. “But in the end, I would doubt that he does it.
“I hope Pence runs. A lot of us hope he runs,” he added.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
