Trump team positions Pence as the antidote to anti-Trump animus

The president’s campaign aides recognize Trump’s personality is a liability with the voters he needs to win over. That’s where Mike Pence comes in.

When Donald Trump’s reelection team shamelessly acknowledged during a World Series campaign commercial that America’s 45th president is “no Mr. Nice Guy,” it was doing more than shock-and-awe advertising.

Noticeably absent from the 30-second spot was the president’s genteel sidekick: Mike Pence. Save for a Situation Room photo used to show voters that Trump is “obliterating ISIS,” the vice president was unseen and unheard — his...