Swarens: Mike Pence says he needed to listen more about RFRA

Gov. Mike Pence ticked off the accomplishments. Rising student achievement. Falling unemployment. A new, balanced budget, which includes in dollar terms the largest single increase in school funding in the state's history. A small but groundbreaking investment in preschool. A responsible, innovative expansion of Medicaid.

"There are a lot of really encouraging things happening around Indiana," the governor said during a meeting with the Indy Star's publisher and a group of editors in his Statehouse office on Wednesday.

And — let's be fair here — encouraging things are happening in our state.

But also, let's not be naive.

It's clear that the challenges facing Indiana — from bolstering incomes to training workers, from rebuilding communities to improving Hoosiers' health — remain daunting.

It's also clear, three weeks removed from a brutal legislative session, that the conversations lingering in Indianapolis and beyond aren't about Team Pence's accomplishments. The talk rather is still about the destructive, unnecessary passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and Pence's failure to prevent the damage.

I asked Pence about the lessons he learned from the RFRA debacle. "I certainly learned — again — that I'm not perfect," he said. "If I have a regret, I regret that we didn't spend more time listening before the bill got to my desk. My ambition is to be a better listener."

He also emphasized, as he did at the height of the RFRA inferno, that in his mind the law was not about discrimination. "I support religious freedom. I also oppose discrimination. I was raised to do unto others, what you would have them do unto you. Those are core principles for me," he said. "If I had thought it was about discrimination, I would have vetoed the bill. I meant that to my bone marrow."

Yet, Pence acknowledged that he made a mistake by signing the bill in private, with a group of hand-picked, hard-line religious conservatives standing behind him. That staging sent an exclusionary message to the state and to the world, and it stoked flames of outrage that quickly burned out of control.

Two days after he signed RFRA, Pence admitted that clarifying legislation was necessary. Five days after that, state lawmakers passed the "fix," and the governor soon signed it.

With the fix in place, the initial firestorm began to die. But there was a promise made during the height of the crisis that could still burn the governor, and the state, if he lets it.

The RFRA clarification was introduced during an extraordinary Statehouse news conference called by key legislative, business, academic and community leaders. In addition to revising the new law, those leaders promised to push in the next year for the addition of sexual orientation and gender identity to the state's civil rights law.

The governor, however, has been largely noncommittal about that idea.

So on Wednesday, I pressed him for his position on an expansion of the civil rights law. He repeatedly dodged direct answers to my questions on the issue — to the point that it felt like an episode of "Dancing with the Stars."

He did promise to listen as he travels the state, and to keep an open mind, but questioned whether the issue is a high priority for most Hoosiers.

Bottom line: Pence is still far from a yes on whether he's willing to embrace statewide civil rights protections for LGBT Hoosiers. But he didn't say no.

As Pence's bid for re-election unfolds in 2016 — "My intention is to get another five years out of this gig" — his mishandling of RFRA provides Democrats with their best opportunity in 12 years to win back the governor's office and even raises the potential for a challenge in the Republican primary.

During the campaign, the governor will want to talk about his record on jobs, education and other core issues, and he'll be able to point to significant accomplishments in several key areas.

But, as a leader who acknowledges he needs to become a better listener, Pence runs a high risk if he's seen as intransigent on expanding civil rights. Many voters may stop listening to him.

Swarens is The Star's Opinion editor. Email him at tim.swarens@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @tswarens.