I hate Pence as a VIP pick immensely as well, but he was needed to shore up support among evangelicals. I'm hoping he picks a cabinet of most a-political businessmen, but we'll see on that.
I think, yes, with how the RNC/Republicans have treated him he'll work to prevent anything too extreme from really coming up to the point where he'd have to sign anything.
As for supreme court justices, he's GOING to at least appoint 1 Scalia-esque conservative to replace him, which is something that's kind of needed to balance out the supreme court. That's going to happen, definately, 100%.
Any additional justices I feel will be moderate/liberal, but we'll have to see when we get to it.
I don't need to convince them, Trump's previous actions have convinced me that he'll be better than Hillary. He needs to immidiately shift focus and taper down expectations, Which he's already starting today
http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.752144
By the time he takes office, you're going to see a much more moderate Trump with much less rhetoric. It would fit his campaign's strategy perfectly.