GLORIA BORGER: I have to say, Wolf, look, if you look at the picture today, the picture was of, as we were talking about earlier, an arranged marriage, which Donald Trump really admitted and openly said, “I'm an outsider.”
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WOLF BLITZER (HOST): In a speech introducing his vice presidential running mate you don't often hear the presidential nominee being as honest and candid as he was right there.
BORGER: He eventually got around to praising Mike Pence's record in Indiana, but this is the reason he chose him. So it clearly wasn't for love. It wasn't because they had a long-standing relationship. It is because he knew that this is something he needed and he had been convinced of that and did it. Now I think that what we're going to see are questions -- and I'm sure -- and this does give Hillary Clinton an opening. On the one hand Pence balances this ticket to a great degree. But on the other hand, Pence is going to be asked over and over again by not only Democrats but by voters, “How can you change your mind on everything from trade to the Muslim ban, the war in Iraq,” you know, down the entire list. We saw him start to do that last night. But I think it may dog him a little bit.
DANA BASH: I agree, and can I saw something about that? Four years ago is a perfect example of two candidates on the same ticket, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, who didn't agree on everything. The biggest difference was on immigration, which is a huge deal for the Republican base. But Paul Ryan said, “You know what? I don't agree with him, we don't agree, but he's the guy at the top of the ticket and he sets the rule, he sets the policy, he sets the agenda and I'm along for the ride.” What Mike Pence is doing here is twisting himself into a pretzel on some of the core, core issues which I think is actually pretty dangerous, especially on the issue of trade, which is, you know, the heart and soul of Trump's economic plan and economic pitch to voters out there. And, you know, there are already clips that I'm seeing reminding us of Mike Pence on the House floor praising NAFTA, talking about how great it was for jobs in his state. And now he's -- never mind that he disagrees with Trump, OK fine, they can explain that, but now he's starting to sound like he is contradicting himself and flip-flopping, which I think is even more dangerous than not agreeing.
