Don’t Count Us Out, Pence Tells Crowd In Omaha

Mike Pence struck an upbeat tone Thursday, saying anyone who thinks this year's presidential race is over and Hillary Clinton has already won is mistaken.

"Don't be fooled for a second - this race is on," the Republican vice presidential nominee said at an Omaha rally.

Pence also urged all Republicans to "come home" on Election Day and unite behind their party's nominee.

"It's time to come home and do our part and make sure Hillary Clinton is never elected president," Pence told a boisterous crowd of about 800 people.

Pence appeared at a warehouse in central Omaha owned by Midstates Construction Co., a business that sells construction supplies. His visit in the final stretch of the 2016 presidential race underscores the competitive nature of the Omaha-based 2nd District, where Donald Trump and Clinton are vying for a single electoral vote and where both candidates have offices.

It also underscored the drama in this year's race. Both Pence and the crowd at the rally were in high spirits, with many shouting encouragements for the GOP ticket and condemnations of Clinton throughout Pence's 45-minute speech. The crowd frequently broke into now-familiar chants of "lock her up" and "drain the swamp."

There also were a few visible flashes of anger in the crowd, with several people approaching members of the news media to criticize their coverage. And when a single protester was escorted out of the rally after shouting "Dump Trump," a woman in the audience screamed: "This is America, if you don't like it, get out. This is our country."

For his part, Pence gave a spirited stump speech, defending Trump as a "fighter" and lambasting Clinton's tenure as secretary of state, saying she and Democratic President Barack Obama have "weakened" America's standing in the world.

"You have nominated a man for president who never quits," Pence said. "He's a fighter and he's a winner."

Pence was introduced at the rally by Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican who is said to be on friendly terms with the vice presidential candidate, the governor of Indiana.

After he took the stage, Pence called Ricketts a "great governor" - but he joked that Ricketts' flattering introduction was a little too long.

"I was for Pete Ricketts before it was cool," said Pence. "He knows me well enough to know the introduction I prefer is a little shorter: I'm a Christian, a conservative and a Republican."

Pence argued that both Clinton and Obama deserved the blame for the rise of the terrorist group known as the Islamic State. The decision to pull troops from Iraq, Pence said, left a "vacuum" that the Islamic State quickly filled.

(Democrats say that it was former President George W. Bush, a Republican, who negotiated the date of the troop withdrawal in Iraq and that Obama had to honor that date.)

"There is no question - today, the world is more dangerous than the day Barack Obama and Clinton took over," Pence said.

Pence said Trump would make America strong again on the national stage by rebuilding the nation's military.

He also said Trump would end illegal immigration "once and for all" and that he would quickly revoke every single executive order issued by Obama during his two terms in the White House.

Finally, Pence said Republicans would repeal Obama's signature legislative victory known as Obamacare - the controversial health care law that has expanded health coverage to more Americans.

Pence noted that in recent days it has been reported that the average health insurance premium under the law has gone up 25 percent.

"We said this was going to happen. We said premiums were going to go up and coverage was going to go down. The only thing that's going to get bigger is the government," Pence said.

The crowd was clearly in Pence's corner.

Georgia Ebel, 87, of Omaha said at the rally that she'll cast her vote against Hillary Clinton.

Ebel said her top issue is abortion and said she thinks Clinton is hypocritical for focusing on children's issues while supporting abortion rights.

"I fully agree with Mike Pence's stances, his governing ability, his philosophy," Ebel said.

Donna Pechnik of Blair, too, said she opposes Clinton.

"She's corrupt," she said. "The whole clan is."

Pechnik said Pence was a good vice presidential pick and she thinks Trump will "keep America secure."

Andy Anderson, 31, said he likes Pence's governing philosophy.

"He's a good man," Anderson said. "He comes across as more of a servant."

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