Pence Steps On the National Stage

First Read: “Now that the Republican convention has stabilized a bit after a very rocky start, tonight’s attention turns to VP running mate Mike Pence. Thanks to a less-than-typical VP rollout, Pence probably has a more challenging task to sell himself — and Trump — to the American public in his speech tonight than his predecessors did in 2008 or 2012.”

“Neither Sarah Palin nor Paul Ryan were overshadowed the way Trump overshadowed Pence when he formally unveiled him, speaking for 29 minutes before Pence got his chance to talk. Neither Palin nor Ryan got in 900 words in the first joint-ticket TV interview — compared with the presidential nominee’s 2,160 words — in what happened during Sunday’s Trump-Pence interview on “60 Minutes.” And neither Palin nor Ryan had to experience reports that the presidential nominee had immediate doubts he was making the right pick.”