In addition to the ties he'll break due to the slim Senate majority, I think he and Newt (my fill in for Trump's CoS) will be hugely powerful. If the Veep in Trump's Cabinet will be as powerful as we expect, Trump made a good pick here. What do y'all think? Will Pence be in the background with little pet PR projects - a glorified First Lady, or will he be running things?
That assumes on whether you think Trump will listen to his counsel. I'd argue that Trump hasn't demonstrated much desire to listen to counsel and Pence has demonstrated that he's not really on the inside of Trump's inner circle based on his 24hr delayed response when the Access Hollywood tapes emerged. Additionally, did you notice that Pence was missed in Trumps "thank you list" in the campaign acceptance speech last night until he ended to turn around and saw Pence standing behind him? The Secret Service got a nod and Pence didn't? I have immense amount of respect for Pence but I believe he's an "outsider" in the campaign. One of the talk heads (Chuck Todd???) claimed that Pence was not Trump's first choice and needed to be convinced to add him to the ticket.
I think this is a valid point of view, but he knows his success in business was mostly due to hiring good people around him. I could be wrong, but I hope that is the case.
I think he did a really good job the last 2 to 3 weeks of the campaign listening to his counsels. I agree with theiioftx that he's successful because he did surround himself with smart people that he listened to.
I'd agree on the last 2-3 weeks. Someone (Conway?) got in his ear and said "stick to the talking points". Given his history though that seems atypical of his style.
I've seen documentaries on Trump where people who know him discussed his good and bad traits. It was almost unanimous when asked about how he is to work for/with. It surprised me when most people remarked how good of a listener he is and has no problem delegating responsibility. They say he's not a control freak like it'd seem. Like I've said all along...most people make a huge mistake judging his ability off of Media Trump. Business Trump is serious and relentless in pursuit of success. Countless people who worked with and for him over the years have confirmed that. I def think Pence will be well involved in the loop. Pence is well respected on both sides. He's a big asset when pitching policy to cautious Congress members. As for the speech last night, the guy was overwhelmed trying to thank everyone. I thought in real time he turned to thank Pence at the same time he said his name, not that he accidentally noticed Pence and thanked him. Regardless, I saw him praise Pence up and down at a rally the day before the election. Made a big deal out of how foolish he made Kaine look in the debate. This Trump-Pence divide is sour grapes fiction.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying there is a divide between Trump/Pence. My statement is that they aren't as close as the original poster suggested that would make Pence his primary counselor. Pence gave Trump "conservative" credibility at the point he needed it most. As for Trump's ability to listen to others, he clearly accurately read the tea leaves of voter discontent and seized on that emotion. I believe that was all Donald Trump's instincts though, not a poll or counselor pointing him in that direction. In this election cycle, Trump didn't demonstrate an ability to listen to others. I really hope he can because if he doesn't then the worst prognostications of his presidency could come true. I'll take the positive stance for now and hope he does.
