Vice President-elect Mike Pence is working to ease the angst some nervous Republicans have over Donald Trump and his political agenda, The Washington Post reports.
"It seems like he's taken on the role of explainer-in-chief," Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., who did not support Trump in the campaign, told the newspaper.
Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group, added: "He's the comforter-in-chief. That role works…because everyone respects his integrity and likes him personally."
The Post noted that while the president-elect rattles some in the GOP with his unconventional ideas, "Pence seems to always be there to try to sooth their discomfort."
He has continually met with Republicans — including Trump's critics — to discuss the incoming administration's policies, the newspaper points out.
Pence's strong role in the new administration has some already comparing him to Dick Cheney, who as George W. Bush's vice president wielded tremendous influence, according to the Post.
"My observation is that Mike Pence will be as powerful a vice president in domestic police as Vice President Cheney was in foreign policy," Bobbie Kilberg, a longtime GOP fundraiser told the newspaper. I think there is a significant parallel."
Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., a transition team liaison to Congress, anticipates Pence will be Trump's key point person with Republican congressional leaders.
"It will be a vice president with a real meat-and-potatoes job descriptions," Collins is quoted by the Post.
Meanwhile, longtime syndicated columnist Cal Thomas noted: "When Mike Pence becomes the 48th vice president of the United States next month, he will take on the role of a political lobbyist for Donald Trump's activist agenda, according to Fox News.
"To help Trump accomplish his legislative goals, Pence plans to attend the weekly luncheon meeting with senators and meet on occasion with members of the House where he spent more than a decade as a representative from Indiana," Thomas said.
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