Pence's Perplexing Pivot to Trump

Before ballots were cast, Pence said during a radio interview: "I'm not against anybody, but I will be voting for Ted Cruz in the upcoming Republican primary." But he also commended Trump for having "given voice to the frustrations of millions of working Americans."

I first became aware of Pence in 2005 when, while serving in Congress, he dove into the mosh pit of the immigration debate and took on the thankless task of writing a comprehensive reform bill. He recruited Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas to co-sponsor the legislation.

While securing the border and creating a guest worker program, the Hutchison-Pence bill gave the undocumented the means to stay in the United States. The idea was to require one member of a family to go back to the home country for one- or two-day processing sessions -- at what Pence called "Ellis Island Centers" -- before returning to the United States with a temporary work permit and the ability, for them and their families, to live here without being deported.

While not perfect, that's a grown-up solution -- the kind you don't see often in the immigration debate.

Liberals mocked the idea, up to the point where they tried to copy it in legislation of their own.

But it was conservatives who really hated the plan. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., who was then perhaps the most openly nativist member of Congress, attacked the Pence plan as a "mini-amnesty." And House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner -- who had proposed his own draconian immigration bill that wasn't going anywhere -- tried to undermine Pence and derail the bill.

With enemies like that, I figured Pence must be good people. So I contacted him, and we began a series of interviews and conversations during which I determined that this was exactly what he was: good people.

And now that Trump-Pence is a thing, we know that even good people can sometimes make bad decisions and show poor judgment.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.