前副总统迈克·彭斯周四宣布了共和党的多管齐下的政策议程，这是他计划在2024年竞选总统的一系列指标中的最新指标。
根据他的政治倡导组织网站上的一份声明，彭斯认为他的“自由议程”是“着眼于未来”，并表示它“为美国人民提供了一个明确而令人信服的选择”。
虽然他没有直截了当地说，但这个时机表明，他所指的选择是在前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)倡导的极右翼保守派对2020年大选的不满和彭斯对未来的点头之间。
在今年早些时候的一次演讲中，彭斯强行与特朗普决裂，称这位前总统推动他拒绝选举人团投票给总统乔·拜登是“错误的”。自1月6日国会大厦遇袭以来，这两个人已经公开分开，特朗普的支持者在那次袭击中要求彭斯的人头，迫使他藏在一个安全的地方。
在该计划发布前，彭斯在与几家新闻媒体的电话中巧妙地强调了与特朗普的对比。
德鲁·安格雷尔/盖蒂图片社
副总统迈克·彭斯看着唐纳德·川普总统在ab会议上讲话...
彭斯对记者说:“选举关乎未来，坦率地说，反对派最喜欢保守派谈论过去或谈论他们给总统造成的混乱。”相应的去政治。“我认为，通过不懈地关注未来，我们可以阻止激进的左翼，我们可以扭转这个国家，我们可以在2022年赢得国会和州议会，我们可以在2024年及以后赢回美国。”
彭斯的计划被组织成三大支柱——美国机遇、美国领导力和美国文化——这在很大程度上打击了保守的文化问题，这些问题帮助弗吉尼亚的格伦·扬金(Glenn Youngkin)等后起之秀将蓝色州变成红色州。其中一些议程项目包括促进“爱国”教育，明确提及课堂上批判种族理论的言论，这是许多共和党人反对的;保护个人不受“审查”;通过禁止变性妇女参加某些体育赛事来"保护女性体育竞赛";通过结束纳税人资助的堕胎和废除计划生育来尊重“上帝赋予的价值”。
彭斯的计划呼吁进行选举改革，但没有提到特朗普及其盟友提出的2020年选举被“偷走”的谬论。然而，彭斯的议程推动了一个投票系统，其中要求身份证明，优先考虑并鼓励亲自投票，邮寄投票“很少”
随着入侵乌克兰的进行，彭斯的议程还包括反俄罗斯情绪，称普京“破坏国内外的自由和民主”，同时呼吁建立以出口美国生产的天然气为中心的私营部门主导的能源生产，这将减少欧洲对俄罗斯石油的依赖。
根据彭斯政治团体的网站，这位前副总统与几十名知名保守派合作制定了他的计划，包括前政府官员凯莉安妮·康威、贝琪·德沃斯和大卫·伯恩哈特。一位着名的贡献者是即将离任的亚利桑那州州长道格·杜西(Doug Ducey)，他经常受到特朗普的严厉批评，他因与亚利桑那州2020年大选的审计保持距离而引起前总统的愤怒，这是特朗普和彭斯之间日光的另一个指标。
彭斯现在是两位高调的共和党人之一，他们为共和党发布了正式的政策提案，因为该党试图在即将到来的中期选举中确保优势。佛罗里达州参议员里克·斯科特是全国共和党参议员委员会的主席，他在2月份宣布了备受争议的11点计划。其他传闻中的共和党2024年候选人，包括亚利桑那州共和党参议员汤姆·科顿(Tom Cotton)，已经公开了他们中期及以后的优先事项。
彭斯的倡导组织“推进美国自由”推出了他的计划配有视频解说这很像是周四早上的一场竞选玩笑。
“我们最好的日子还没有到来，”彭斯说，“为了更新美国文化、美国机会和美国领导力，为了人民更完美的联盟。”
Pence releases policy agenda for Republican Party, paving way for 2024 candidacy
Former Vice President Mike Pence announced Thursday a multi-pronged policy agenda for the Republican Party, the latest in a series of indicators he's planning to mount a run for the presidency in 2024.
Pence sees his "Freedom Agenda" as "focused on the future" and said it "offers a clear and compelling choice to the American people," according to a statement on his political advocacy group's website.
While he didn't say it outright, the timing suggests the choice he's referring to is between far-right conservative grievances over the 2020 election championed by former President Donald Trump and Pence's nod toward the future.
In a speech earlier this year, Pence forcibly broke from Trump, saying it was "wrong" for the former president to have pushed him to reject Electoral College votes for President Joe Biden. The pair have publicly grown apart since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol at which Trump supporters called for Pence's head, forcing him to hide in a secure location.
During a call with a handful of news outlets prior to the plan's release, Pence subtly highlighted the contrast with Trump.
"Elections are about the future, and frankly the opposition would love nothing more for conservatives to talk about the past or to talk of the mess they've made of the president," Pence told reporters,accordingto Politico. "And I think by relentlessly focusing on the future we can stop the radical left, we can turn this country around, we can win the Congress and statehouses back in 2022, and we can win back America in 2024 and beyond."
Pence's plan is organized intothree pillars-- American opportunity, American leadership and American culture -- that strike largely at conservative cultural issues that helped rising stars like Virginia's Glenn Youngkin flip blue states red. Some of those agenda items include promoting "patriotic" education, a clear reference to critical-race-theory rhetoric in the classroom, which many Republicans oppose; protecting individuals from being "censored"; "protecting female athletic competition" by barring transgender women from playing in certain sporting events; honoring "God-given worth" by ending taxpayer funded abortion and abolishing Planned Parenthood.
Pence's plan calls for a version of election reform but doesn't mention the fallacy pushed by Trump and his allies that the 2020 election was "stolen." Nevertheless, Pence's agenda pushes for a voting system in which identification is required, in-person voting is preferred and encouraged and mail-in voting is "rare."
The Pence agenda also includes anti-Russian sentiments as the invasion of Ukraine barrels on, saying Putin "undermines freedom and democracy at home and abroad" while calling for the creation of private-sector led energy production centered around the export of American-produced natural gas that would cut Europe's dependency on Russian oil.
According to Pence's political group's website, the former vice president collaborated with several dozen prominent conservatives to create his plan, including former administration officials Kellyanne Conway, Betsy DeVos, and David Bernhardt. One notable contributor is outgoing Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a frequent target of Trump's harsh criticism, who drew ire from the former president for distancing himself from the Arizona audit of the 2020 election -- another indicator of the daylight between Trump and Pence.
Pence is now one of two high-profile Republicans who have released formalized policy proposals for the GOP as the party attempts to secure the advantage in the upcoming midterm elections. Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, announced his controversial 11-point plan in February. Other rumored GOP 2024 candidates, including Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ariz., have made public their priorities for the midterms and beyond.
Pence's advocacy organization, Advancing American Freedom, rolled out his planwith a video narratedby Pence, which closely resembles a campaign tease, Thursday morning.
"Our best days are yet to come," said Pence, "for renewing American culture, American opportunity, and American leadership, for a more perfect union for the people."
