THE POWER OF PENCE – AT 11:15 A.M. ET:   Amidst all the flurry of activity around President-elect Trump, one element that's been largely ignored is the growing influence and power of Vice-President-elect Mike Pence.   He seems on track to be, possibly, the most consequential vice presidents in recent history.  From TIME: 

There is no one in America, save the President-elect himself, who has more responsibility to make Trump’s first term a success. Key among Pence’s tasks, after staffing the new Administration and keeping the peace with conservative activists, is finding a way to reach across party lines to make the government work. Perhaps that’s why he described his meeting with Pelosi as the first of many, called her “a worthy opponent” and reflected fondly on their debates over the years in the House. That same day, he offered incoming Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer his personal cell-phone number with an open invitation to call. “Politics is the art of the possible, and knowing people and having relationships is finding out what is possible,” Pence told TIME weeks later during a brief interview at Trump Tower.

After 12 years in Washington as a Congressman (before becoming governor of Indiana), Pence has been putting a lot of his relationships to work. “If the President-elect is wise enough to use him very extensively, I think he will serve himself very well,” former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels tells TIME. “So much of what Vice President Pence brings fills gaps in President Trump’s background.”

Pence has already made a mark. “One of my great decisions in life was choosing Mike Pence to be my running mate,” Trump tells TIME. “He is truly a high-quality human being, first class in every respect. He is also a talented politician who loves people and wants to help them every step of the way.”

COMMENT:  Read the whole piece.  Agree or disagree with some of Pence's positions, he is clearly a man of action, with a remarkable sense of how to move.  He might be a future president.  We could do much worse, as the history of the last eight years demonstrates.

January 20, 2016