Mediaboss Marketing

When Paul Ryan wanted to spend more money, his budget got blown up. When John Boehner tried the same thing earlier on, an axe suddenly came down on his head. And now that Obamacare repeal is on the table, Vice President Mike Pence must succeed where those House speakers failed.

Specifically, Pence must win over the combative and determined House Freedom Caucus. Nothing less than the entire White House healthcare agenda rests on his ability to woo 40 of the most conservative representatives in the 435-member House. Already, though, it's been tough going.

In a closed-door meeting on the Hill this morning, Pence warned Republicans not to mount a revolt against a recently released Obamacare repeal package. A few hours later, members of the Freedom Caucus gathered for a press conference in front of the Capitol to give their answer.

"Our goal is real simple," Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told a gaggle of reporters, "bring down the cost of insurance for working and middle-class families across the country." Without addressing Pence by name, Jordan dismissed the vice president, describing the American Healthcare Act as "Obamacare in a different form."

Specifically, the feathers of the fiscal hawks have been ruffled by the news Republican leadership planned to install a new system of refundable tax credits and keep Obamacare's Medicaid expansion in place until 2020. Long story short: The Freedom Caucus won't listen.

That's not exactly a surprising development. Both Jordan and Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., told the Washington Examiner that leadership's repeal bill was a non-starter. "It doesn't matter who comes to us and asks us to go along with this devastating program," Brat said late Monday night. "The answer will be no." That's a bitter and personal bummer for everyone involved.

Last September, after Ryan told House Republicans to go their own way, Freedom Caucus members went out campaigning for the Trump-Pence ticket. When the nominee was behind by double digits, Brat and Jordan were climbing onstage next to the vice president in Ohio and Virginia. Ever since Trump won that election, though, the conservative faction has been losing influence.

Like a cheap date, the White House has taken a shine to leadership and left behind the Freedom Caucus. Sure, Trump elevated an original member of the Freedom Caucus, South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney, to head up his Budget Office. Other than personnel changes, though, the administration hasn't followed the group's lead on policy. Soon things will get even more awkward.

Tomorrow, Jordan plans to head to the House floor and introduce a 2015 bill that thoroughly guts Obamacare. But when he dredges up the pastjust three House Republicans voted against the bill before Obama vetoed itthere won't be any going back.

Also from the Washington Examiner

Conservative insurgents in the House and Senate oppose the bill.

03/09/17 8:52 AM

Just like they bucked Boehner and Ryan before, the Freedom Caucus will be revolting against the White House. And right now, there doesn't seem like there's anything Pence can do about it.

Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.

Here is the original post:
Mike Pence vs. the House Freedom Caucus? - Washington Examiner

USA Today Network Matthew Tully, The Indianapolis Star Published 2:14 p.m. ET March 7, 2017 | Updated 13 hours ago

Vice President Pence greets employees at Blain's Fleet and Farm Distribution Center in Janesville, Wis., during a listening session with Wisconsin business leaders Friday, March 3, 2017.(Photo: Rick Wood, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

It seems quite reasonable to consider the possibility that Donald J. Trump will leave the presidency at some point before the end of his current term.

Will he quit in a historic huff? Will he be pushed out by Congress? Or will he be lured away to host a reality show on Russian TV? I dont know. For now, the last line of this book seems easier to imagine than all the pages before it. And while I dont dispute the possibility that I could be wrong, the increasingly paranoid, reckless, authoritarian and generally unstable behavior of our new president makes it hard to see how the country or his own party sustains four years of this.

With that in mind, Ive been thinking a lot lately about the president Mike Pence would be. As the great actor Albert Brooks put it on Twitter over the weekend, amid Trumps outburst accusing President Obama of wiretappinghim: President Mike Pence. The president, Mike Pence. President Pence ... I was just practicing.

Its probably something worth practicing, and pondering. Seriously, is it really that hard to imagine a scenario in which Trump, who long ago lost his grip on facts and calmness, loses his grip on or interest in the presidency? Not for me.

President Pence hey, who knows?

Now Ill never argue that I know the vice president in any significant way he never even sent me an email from his famed AOL account. He was the kind of guy who would invite media types like me out for breakfast or lunch to chat one on one, and then stick pretty close to his political shtick while occasionally giving you a glimpse of a real person. I never left thinking I knew him. He seemed far too polished for that. But those of us who toil in Indiana politics were able to see the nations No. 2 up close when he was a candidate for governor and then governor.

Putin's best-laid plans are failing: Max Boot

Time to talk Trump impeachment: Jason Sattler

We saw him through political crises, such as the religious freedom debacle and the embarrassing plot to create a state-run media outlet. At his best, we saw him forge impressive deals, such as his Medicaid agreement with the Obama administration and his push for the state governments first investment in preschool. And we saw him at his ideological worst, such as when he killed a federal preschool grant application or when he signed an abortion bill everyone knew would be struck down.

Obviously, the Mike Pence story was thoroughly debated and discussed last year. In recent weeks, though, amid various Trump meltdowns and mistakes, it seems like conversations about Pence have centered on one certain question. Its a question that has been posed to me by several people, and debated by many more on social media.

Would a President Pence be any better than President Trump?

Excuse my language but ... hell, yes.

Heres the bottom line: Whether you reside on the political right or the left, or anywhere in the middle, Pence would be an upgrade. I say this as someone who arguably has written more critical columns about him than anyone, as someone who criticized both his politics and his leadership, and as someone who once wrote that he was out of his league as governor.

Despite all of that, I find myself these days hoping that Trump simply tires of the White House and hands over the keys to Pence.

President Pence? Given the alternative, Ill take it. In a second.

Yes, I would then surely join many others in opposing many of Pences policies. I would worry about the influence of divisive culture warriors in his inner circle. I would criticize him for joining the Trump team in the first place and for being an enabler of the presidents antics.

And then I would take a deep breath and be thankful that a human being who has exhibited stability, calmness and caution was sitting in the Oval Office. Id read about North Korea nervously, but not quite as nervously as I do now.

In these early days of the Trump presidency, I keep thinking back to Pences years as governor. It has surprised me but within those years, years filled with so much deserved criticism, I find clear evidence that Pence is simply a better person and leader than his boss. By better, I mean that he has more of the basic qualities you want to see in a leader, particularly a president, than Trump does.

POLICING THE USA:Alook atrace, justice, media

Sessions' credibility is shot: Column

Three things:

First, Pence has never spewed disgust at the institutions and ideals that sit at the core of our democracy, from the free press and the courts, to Congress and the ability of people to challenge their leaders. I disagree quite often with Pences political views, but I dont fear that his goal is to bully or otherwise shut down the institutions and traditions that have made America great. He seems to respect these institutions, in fact.

Second, he doesnt see enemies everywhere. Take the religious freedom controversy. Indeed, he stumbled when questioned and lost control of the debate, and he surrounded himself with an out-of-touch group before signing the bill. But here is what he didnt do: He didnt lash out at his critics or his staff. He didnt label those of us questioning him as enemies or liars. He didnt offer conspiracy theories. He didnt descend into deep and dark places for his information. He actually listened to critics.

Third, while many mock Pences strict adherence to talking points, and it is indeed frustrating, the trait does make clear that he understands the value of carefully choosing ones words. It suggests he sees the value in stable, consistent messaging. It shows that he understands the damage that can come with reckless words. Imagine that.

With his conspiracy tweets about Obama, Trump showed that he is in no way suited for the presidency. He showed that he is a reckless and dangerous man, and either dishonest or delusional. He once again made it easy to imagine a scenario in which he at some point loses or leaves his job.

Mike Pence would not be my preferred president. Not by a long shot. But hes not unhinged, hes not reckless and hes not mean. That alone guarantees he would be an upgrade.

Matthew Tully is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star, where this piece first appeared. Follow him on Twitter: @matthewltully

You can readdiverse opinions from ourBoard of Contributorsand other writers ontheOpinion front page,on Twitter@USATOpinionand in our dailyOpinion newsletter.To submit a letter, comment or column, check oursubmission guidelines.

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2mCa1XH

Continued here:
Practice saying President Mike Pence: Matthew Tully - USA TODAY

Vice President Mike Pence made clear Tuesday that a House GOP plan is the framework for moving ahead with President Trumps promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.

This is the bill. And the president supports the American Health Care Act, he said after meeting with Senate Republicans at the Capitol.

His comments followed similar endorsements from Mr. Trump and his health secretary, Tom Price, who praised the House effort while leaving room for potential changes by fellow Republicans.

The plan scraps Obamacares unpopular mandates and gradually unwinds its vast expansion of Medicaid coverage for the poor, while capping federal funding for the program by 2020.

It replaces Obamacares subsidies with age-based, refundable tax credits, though conservatives say that aspect amounts to a new entitlement, or Obamacare lite.

Senate GOP leaders cant afford to lose more than two Republican votes for the plan, which will use arcane budget rules to get around a Democratic filibuster, assuming it makes it out of the House.

Sens. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, and Mike Lee, Utah Republican, have already said the plan falls short.

Democrats, meanwhile, said the plan is a reckless attempt to cut taxes for the wealthy while reining in federal assistance for the poor.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said the GOP hasnt released more details about the proposals effects on because theyre ashamed of this plan.

See the rest here:
VP Pence touts House GOP health care plan - Washington Times

Vice President Mike Pence struggled on Tuesday to defend President Donald Trumps allegation that former PresidentBarack Obamawiretapped Trump Tower ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Asked whether he thought Trumps tweets were a good move, Pence declined to weigh in.

I think the presidents tweet speaks for itself. Hes expressed himself on it. And were very pleased that the congressional committees have made it clear that they will look into that matter, just as theyre looking into every aspect of it, Pence said during an interview with Fox News RadiosKilmeade and Friends.

There is no evidence to support Trumps claim, though membersof Congress have said they will investigateit. FBI director Jim Comey reportedly asked the Department of Justice to deny it.

After the question about the tweets, Pence tried to pivot the interview away from the controversy.

I can tell you that the focus here at the White House is eyes forward and completely focused on the presidents agenda to repeal and replace Obamacare and to put the national security of this country first, he said.

White House aides havesourced Trumps claim to news reports, but have struggled to defend it. White House press secretary Sean Spicer used similar language as Pence on Monday when addressing Trumps tweets.

Im just going to let the tweet speak for itself, Spicer said.

Visit link:
Not Even Mike Pence Can Defend Trump's Wiretapping Claim - Huffington Post

Repeats story published March 7.

If it feels like you've seen a ton of Kellyanne Conway on TV lately, it's because you have.

Conway, former Trump campaign manager and current counselor to the president, has received millions of dollars in free earned media since the start of the year, according to data from analytics firm mediaQuant. Last month, she got more airtime than Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. And the month before, she edged out Vice President Mike Pence. The only figures who have consistently beat her in free media attention in 2017 are Donald Trump, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

"I'm the face of Donald Trump's movement," Conway said in a January interview with The Hollywood Reporter. And she appears to be right.

Conway, 50, got $15.9 million in free earned media in February, her boss' first full month in office, and $13.1 million in January. Over the past year, she has gotten more than $100 million in unpaid press attention.

Unsurprisingly, broadcast television is where she's gotten the most play, with about 60% of free media attention coming from there. She is also prominent in online news and Twitter.

She far outpaces other White House figures such as Reince Priebus, Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon in free earned media. She appears to be making a relatively equal splash to Pence, who got more media than her in February but less in January and December.

"Pence just hasn't got his own voice out there," said Paul Senatori, chief analytics officer at Portland-based mediaQuant. "Maybe it's hard in the shadow he's operating under, but Kellyanne Conway hasn't had that problem."

To be sure, Conway's free media prowess falls far short of her boss'. Trump rode $5 billion in free earned media to the White House, per mediaQuant's calculations.

To arrive at its estimates, mediaQuant tracks the coverage of each candidate and calculates dollar values based on advertising rates of the media in which the article or news broadcast appears. It weights mentions by the reach of the source (meaning how many people are likely to see it) and includes various mediums, including print, broadcast, online news, blogs and social. It makes adjustments based on sentiment, segment and search metrics.

Since joining the Trump campaign in August 2016, the former pollster has become a prominent figure on the media circuit. She is one of the most talked-about figures in the Trump White House, for bad and for good.

A heated interview with CNN's Jake Tapper went viral in February, and before that, Conway drew attention when she told NBC's Chuck Todd that the White House's claims about the president's inauguration crowd size were "alternative facts."

Conway took a step back from the airwaves late last month after a series of missteps, including offering an impromptu "free commercial" for Ivanka Trump on "Fox and Friends" -- a maneuver that earned her a letter from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics that the White House eventually rebuffed. She also appeared to be out of the loop with regards to former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's communications with Russia prior to his departure from the Trump administration.

Pop culture has caught onto Conway as well. SNL's Kate McKinnon has spoofed her several times, sometimes in a relatively lighthearted light, other times, less so. A photo of Conway kneeling on a couch in the Oval Office swept social media last week.

In an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. last month, Conway, a mother of four, discussed her rise in prominence. She said it is hard for her to consider herself a feminist in the "classical sense" but spoke of being a woman in power.

"I don't have any special advice for America's women, except to know who you are and to put your priorities in order and not to worry about the naysayers and critics," she said.

Love her or hate her, she's got thick skin and needs it, given her media presence.

See the article here:
Kellyanne Conway Gets More Free Media Than Mike Pence and Paul Ryan - TheStreet.com