Pence’s Empty Office

Pence’s Empty Office
By Rob Kendall of Intoretront

On Saturday, thousands of people from across the state flocked to Downtown Danville for the Mayberry in the Midwest Festival. This was great for Governor Mike Pence. He recently opened a campaign office on the corner where the event was taking place. As a candidate, one could not ask for better free exposure.
There was only one problem…no one was at his office. Even worse, there were no signs in the storefront window. There was not one worker passing out information. No promotion at all. Nothing to identify Pence, other than his name on the door. Unless passersby looked closely, the office resembled just another attorney on the Courthouse Square.
At a time where polling shows the governor in a very tight race, thousands of potential voters walked right past his door. Unfortunately, there was no one to seize the opportunity. I was broadcasting the event. I watched as other campaigns had volunteers walking the streets to promote their candidate.
Mistakes in May do not necessarily make or break a campaign, but a lack of discipline and organization throughout will. Pence’s campaign no-show at his office was just that. The race to elect Indiana’s next governor will be razor thin. Unforced errors will haunt both candidates. Pence has several built-in advantages. He needs to exploit them if he is to be victorious. One is volunteers and infrastructure, which failed on Saturday.
The visual of Pence’s empty office was striking. Many people commented. The fact the governor, who personally attended a grand opening for the office just a week ago (complete with a bus full of people to help celebrate), left it unattended, was inexcusable. I was at that event and interviewed Pence. There were placards and signs set up all over the office. Not only did someone remove them when he left, but did not take the effort to transfer them to the window which faces one of the town’s busiest streets. It also means there has likely been no promotion (completely free mind you) for over a week.
Much of politics is about impressions. Pence’s empty office left an awful one. His campaign’s lack of presence fed a narrative many hold of the governor: A guy more about fanfare and publicity than attention to detail which produces good public policy. At the office’s opening, many staffers were on hand, hours before his arrival. Nothing was out of place. Every detail perfectly attended to. After he left, the office apparently became out of sight, out of mind.