Donald Trump's devoted base cheered when he selected Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate in the 2016 presidential campaign.
And why not? Pence had solid Christian, conservative principles. And he proved a loyal vice president during Trump's four years in office, drawing heaps of praise from the president.
Until, of course, he didn't. Pence went from a trusted and vital figure in the administration to a pariah in the MAGA community.
HIs crime? Rightly putting his sworn Constitutional duty ahead of Trump's ego and ambitions on January 6, 2021.
Pence was among the candidates, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who offered Republicans a chance to avoid a Trump-Biden rematch in 2024. Pence in particular made his case for a more mainstream, conservative, Republican path forward.
It was not to be. Nothing could derail the Trump train on the former president's way to the GOP nomination.
Now many prominent Republicans are endorsing nominee Donald Trump's bid to return to the White House.
Without much vigor, we might add.
'He's better than President Joe Biden' is pretty much as enthusiastic as it gets among top GOP leaders, though it's pretty clear most didn't want to see a repeat of the 2020 race.
Pence won't even go that far. On Friday, Pence announced he could not endorse Trump in the 2024 race.
As he told FOX News on Friday, the former president "is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years."
Pence didn't say how he will vote, but ruled out supporting Biden under any circumstance. So there's not a lot of choice left. But Pence is determined to do what he can to get his party back on track.
"What I'm going to spend the rest of this year on is talking about what we should be for," he said. "And that is the broad mainstream conservative agenda that's defined our party and always made America strong and prosperous and free."
It's a principled stand. We wish him luck.
Pence's words are unlikely to have much effect on the outcome of the November election. We don't see Republicans -- including those who did not want Trump as the nominee -- deciding to switch sides. It's Trump in the White House or four more years of Biden and his policies.
But we wonder what might have been if more conservative voters had listened to Pence during the early days of the race for the GOP nomination.