Maureen Groppe

Star Washington Bureau

CLEVELAND — The stakes were already high for Gov. Mike Pence, who gives his vice presidential acceptance speech Wednesday at the Republican National Convention.

The Indiana Republican is not only giving the most important speech of his career to millions of Americans. He's also preparing for a bit of a do-over after he was overshadowed by Donald Trump at Saturday’s unveiling of the ticket in New York.

At that event, Pence spoke for 15 minutes, about half as long as Trump’s rambling introduction. And Trump spoke more about himself than Pence, whom he reiterated was his first choice for a running mate despite reports to the contrary.

“Given that they sort of tripped over their rollout a bit, I think the vice presidential acceptance speech is perhaps more important for Governor Pence,” said Joel Goldstein, a vice presidential scholar at St. Louis University School of Law. “This is going to be the first time when the spotlight really shines on Governor Pence.”

Many are still learning about Pence, even in a convention hall packed with party activists.

“I don’t know much about him, to be honest,” said Florida delegate Bill Paterson. “But I’ve read up on him, and I think he’s going to bring a lot of the party that has been sitting on the sidelines.”

Pence: 'I Accept Your Invitation to Run, Serve'

Pence already has a following among conservatives, some of whom had urged him to run for president in 2012.

One of the biggest speeches of his career before this week was a 2010 address at the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit, where he argued that Republicans had to focus on fiscal and social issues to win back the White House. Pence won the summit’s presidential straw poll.

Although he calls himself a small-town boy from Southern Indiana, Pence never lacked for ambition — or shied from the chance to spread a conservative message.

He ran twice for Congress before winning a seat in 2000. The former radio talk show host wasted no time in setting up a mini radio studio in his House office, the first lawmaker to do so.

“This job is all about communication,” he said.

Pence quickly became one of the leaders among conservatives pushing back on spending issues, including a Medicare drug benefit and President George H.W. Bush’s signature education bill.

“I was tea party before it was cool,” he has said.

After unsuccessfully challenging Ohio Republican John Boehner for the top GOP leadership slot when Republicans lost the House majority in 2006, Pence was unanimously chosen in 2008 to head the Republican Conference, where he had a key role in shaping and delivering the House GOP message.

After leaving Congress to become governor in 2013, Pence made national news — but for controversial reasons, including signing and then backtracking on a bill that critics said would have allowed businesses to deny services to gays and lesbians; turning away a family of Syrian refugees because of security concerns; and signing one of the nation’s most restrictive anti-abortion laws.

“Mike Pence is known across the country for his anti-LGBT law and his outrageous intrusions into women’s health,” said Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. “Pence has always put his party’s ideology before what’s best for Indiana.”

Past vice presidential nominees: What they said

Pence’s spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment about how he’s preparing for the speech and what he hopes to accomplish.

Here’s a look at the challenges Pence faces as he tries to meet the basic goals of a vice presidential acceptance speech.

Introducing himself to a national audience

An estimated 21.9 million TV viewers watched vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech in 2012.

Pence could use the eyeballs.

Nearly 9 in 10 registered voters questioned in a CBS News/New York Times poll this month were undecided or didn’t know enough about Pence to have an opinion.

And the GOP ticket's joint "60 Minutes" interview that aired Sunday might not have helped much. Trump frequently interrupted Pence and talked more than twice as much as his running mate, Goldstein said.

Instead of letting Pence project that he’s his own man, Trump seemed to have him on a leash, said David Lublin, a professor at American University’s School of Public Affairs.

“He looked a little like Trump’s poodle,” Lublin said.

GOP delegates make it official: Trump's their choice

Although Pence won’t have to share the microphone Wednesday, he will be immediately preceded by Newt Gingrich, another outsized personality and former House speaker who was among the finalists to be Trump's running mate — a slot Pence ultimately won.

Pence could get knocked out of the news if something unexpected happens at a convention not lacking in surprises and short on message discipline. For example, coverage of the convention’s first day was dominated by protests of Never Trump delegates, Trump’s calling into the Bill O’Reilly show during emotional floor speeches and the controversy over whether Trump’s wife, Melania, plagiarized some of her speech.

“The story will be about something else, if it’s more interesting, even if Pence gives a good, substantive speech,” Lublin said.

Making the case for Trump

Pence doesn’t know Trump very well, and they differ on policies and style.

After the "60 Minutes" interview, during which Pence perched on a gold chair in Trump’s three-story penthouse apartment, he stopped for a bite at Chili’s before flying back to Indiana.

Pence has tried to smooth over differences between the pair on such issues as trade, his vote for the war in Iraq and whether Muslims should be banned from the United States.

And Pence has been comparing Trump to the man who inspired Pence to become a Republican after growing up in a family of Irish Catholic Democrats.

Pence said Ronald Reagan had extraordinary humility and an “unshakable faith in the capacity of the American people to achieve greatness and astound the world.”

“I hear it and I see it in the man I think will be the next president of the United States,” he has said of Trump.

But while Pence, who calls himself a “happy warrior,” has tried to emulate the optimism for which Reagan is remembered, Trump’s message has a different tone.

“Donald Trump wants to make America great again, but he’s also sort of apocalyptic,” Lublin said.

Attacking the other side

Pence has received his biggest response from crowds when making the case against Clinton, and that’s likely to be the case again Wednesday.

Pence told conservative activists Tuesday that President Barack Obama and Clinton have “weakened America’s place in the world and stifled the nation’s economy.”

Pence fires up conservatives

“We must decide here and now that Hillary Clinton will never become president of the United States of America,” he said to sustained applause at a gathering of the American Conservative Union Foundation.

Pence also has brought back a phrase he showcased at a 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference speech.

“History teaches us that weakness arouses evil,” Pence said during his Saturday speech and also on "60 Minutes." “Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's foreign policy of leading from behind, moving red lines, feigning resets with a resurgent Russia and the rise of ISIS is a testament to this truth of history, and we must bring a change to America's stand in the world.”

Uniting the Party

Uniting the party is not always necessary for a vice presidential speech. But in a year when the past two Republican presidents and the past two GOP presidential nominees are staying away from Cleveland, Pence can help the party heal.

Asked what Pence needs to do in his speech, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson had a one-word response:

“Unify,” Johnson said. “That’s what all of us have to do.”

Former colleagues in Congress have enthusiastically praised Pence in recent days, including many who have said tough things about Trump.

In addition to having the support of establishment Republicans, Pence is firing up conservative activists.

After Pence made a surprise appearance at the American Conservative Union forum Tuesday, ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp said he’s thrilled with the choice of Pence.

“It made a huge statement,” Schlapp said, "for Governor Pence to stand shoulder to shoulder with conservatives.”

Email Maureen Groppe at mgroppe@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @mgroppe.