NEW YORK TIMES, I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

Mike Pence is now officially Donald Trump's running mate. Michael Barbaro and Monica Davey of The New York Times think Pence is a relic of a long-distant past:

Throughout his career as a congressmen, radio show host and governor, Gov. Michael Richard Pence of Indiana, Donald J. Trump’s running mate, has been deeply and proudly out of sync with his times.

... With his deep social conservatism [and] public religiosity ... he is a throwback in his political style.

... In interviews, Mr. Pence describes himself as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.”

Those animating forces were at the center of the most consequential -- and controversial -- decision Mr. Pence made as governor: signing a 2015 law that could have made it easier for religious conservatives to refuse service to gay couples just as same-sex marriage was spreading across the country.

... For many Americans, it was a searing introduction to Mr. Pence. But for those who have closely tracked his career, it fit a longstanding pattern: the winds of change might blow, but Mr. Pence is slow to bend.

Really? Pence is a lonely, bitter clinger to a religious-right philosophy that's now obsolete? Within the GOP?

Apparently Barbaro and Davey didn't read their own newspaper's report on this year's Republican platform:

The platform demands that lawmakers use religion as a guide when legislating, stipulating “that man-made law must be consistent with God-given, natural rights.”

It also encourages the teaching of the Bible in public schools because, the amendment said, a good understanding of its contents is “indispensable for the development of an educated citizenry.”

[A] pornography provision ... calls pornography “a public menace” that is especially harmful to children.

... nearly every provision that expressed disapproval of homosexuality, same-sex marriage or transgender rights passed. The platform calls for overturning the Supreme Court marriage decision with a constitutional amendment and makes references to appointing judges “who respect traditional family values.”

... Additional provisions included those that promoted state laws to limit which restrooms transgender people could use, nodded to “conversion therapy” for gays by saying that parents should be free to make medical decisions about their children without interference and stated that “natural marriage” between a man and a woman is most likely to result in offspring who do not become drug-addicted or otherwise damaged.

More evidence of Pence's datedness, according to Barbaro and Davey?

So far, he has struggled to carve out a national reputation beyond his polarizing pursuit of socially conservative causes. In an echo of his actions on gay rights, he signed a strict new law in March that bans abortions after a fetus is found to have Down syndrome “or any other disability.” The measure inflamed many women and abortion-rights activists across the country and now faces a serious court challenge.

Yes, that's so out of step with present-day Republican mores that Pence wasn't even the first governor to sign such a bill into law -- there was already a similar law in North Dakota. A bill resembling Indiana's is still pending in the Ohio legislature, and Governor John Kasich -- a media darling who's never described as a far-right throwback -- said last year that if it passes, he'll sign it. Oh, and the Louisiana Senate just passed a similar bill.

The mainstream press doesn't want to come to terms with the extremism of the Republican Party, so it portrays Pence as an anomaly. He isn't one.