Last night, former vice president Mike Pence spoke at Georgetown University at an event hosted by the school’s Institute of Politics and Public Service and Young America’s Foundation. He urged a revival of civility in our politics. But instead of being afforded reciprocal goodwill, he was met with staged walk-outs, as well as a vitriolic protest outside the building where he was speaking.
When asked why demonstrators objected to Pence’s presence on campus, an unnamed student claimed to be voicing opposition to Pence’s “right-wing extremism.” What “right-wing extremism”? Pence’s steadfast devotion to defending the lives of the unborn? His belief in American exceptionalism in the face of a culturally ascendant Left that denigrates the republic at every turn? Or his courageous defense of our constitutional order and commitment to the peaceful transfer of power displayed on January 6, 2021? The activist wouldn’t say.
Disagreeing with Pence is one thing. But treating him as beyond the pale, especially when he is standing up for a principled conservatism that distinguishes itself from that of his former boss, amounts to a kind of tacit support for the latter. Earlier in the day, in a speech at the Heritage Foundation, Pence warned conservatives not to let the movement become corrupted and “led astray by the siren song of unprincipled populism that’s unmoored from our oldest traditions and most cherished values.” He also declined to endorse Trump, “saying there might be somebody else I’d prefer more,” stoking speculation of a White House run of his own as an alternative to The Donald. This man is clearly a champion of democracy, not a threat to it.
When progressives refuse to even listen to sensible conservatives like Pence, not only do they malign one of the most prominent non-Trump forces in the GOP, increasing the appeal of Trump as a “middle finger.” They also elevate the same illiberal tendencies that the “democracy dies in darkness” crowd professes to lament. If liberals are serious about their concern for the current state of American democracy, maybe they should spend less time giving Pence the Mitt Romney treatment and stop elevating their own election truthers.