Governor Mike Pence of Indiana is caught between the proverbial rock and hard place, in this case “freedom” and “discrimination.” In addition to watching his Presidential hopes float away, the governor can’t seem to open his mouth without incurring exponential growth in the number of people who despise him.

Not that his current predicament could have been avoided entirely, but he certainly could have employed one or two familiar PR devices to partly alleviate his public display of incompetence. So, without further ado, here’s some after-the-fact advice for the governor.

• Know who you’re getting in bed with on any given piece of legislation and understand what the reaction from their opposition might be. In other words, you can’t invite representatives from virulently anti-gay organizations to your bill-signing party and expect them to have credibility when they go on television to explain the bill is not a license to discriminate.
• As well-meaning as a group of “family values” leaders might be do not allow them to convince you they are in the mainstream when in fact they’re falling off the cliffs of the fringe.
• As the saying goes, one game at a time. Dithering due to Presidential ambitions makes you look decidedly unPresidential.
• On a related note, state clearly and unequivocally why you are making a particular decision and stick to your message.
• Don’t blame imaginary forces such as “perception problems” for your travails. It’s a clear sign you’re backpedaling to Kokomo.

Finally, understand your little moment of history. It never hurts to take stock in where we as a country are on the pendulum swinging toward equality.