INDIANAPOLIS -- Mike Pence has a lot to gain out of becoming vice president, but he also could have a lot to lose.
According to the Washington Post, Pence would have been in "big trouble" if he wasn't chosen to be Donald Trump's running mate.
#PENCEWATCH BLOG | Follow along with all the Mike Pence news leading up to Friday's VP announcement
Washington Post reporter James Hohmann said the reason Pence wants to be Trump's running mate so badly is because he could lose the election for governor -- that he wants to be "rescued" from having to run for reelection.
Hohmann wrote that Pence came across inauthentic and a little phony when he was in the House, and his hyperbole during Wednesday's rally only reinforces that idea.
In May, a poll showed that Pence and Democratic challenger John Gregg were within four percentage points of each other. With a margin of error of 4 percent, it makes the race a toss-up.
PREVIOUS | New poll shows Gregg-Pence race is neck-and-neck
Jared Leopold, of the Democratic Governors Association, said it would be hard for Pence to come back from not getting the VP nod.
“You've got to applaud Pence for putting it all on red and publicly begging to leave the governorship for VP,” he said. “But if he doesn't get picked, it's going to be hard for him to look Hoosiers in the eye in November and say he wants to be governor for four more years. This last week cements the perception that Pence has taken his eye off the ball as governor.”
MORE ON PENCE:
TIMELINE: The governorship of Mike Pence
If Pence isn't in governor's race, who will be?
