Choosing J.D. Vance
Terry H. Schwadron
July 17, 2024
Donald Trump’s choice of Sen. J.D. Vance as his vice president is not going to change anyone’s mind about whom to support in November, but it seems noteworthy for what it says about the Republicans’ chosen direction to cement MAGA principles at the core of vision for the future.
Along with Trump as assassination survivor, Vance helps to sell the perception that Republicans are for “strength,” even while decrying Joe Biden as “weak” — terms one could drive a truck or two through,
In just a day, we’re awash in tales about the chameleon-like nature of Vance, Ohio senator for just about a year, from someone who ridiculed Trump eight years ago to one who now adores him. It feels an appropriate explanation for the conversion of the party into an unquestioning follower, whatever Trump decides to say or do,
Much already has been said about Trump’s perceived comfort with Vance as mini-Trump, ready in an instant to pounce on criticism from opponents, ready to blame Democrats and Trump challengers without stopping to collect or check facts, always ready for a quip worthy of social media or television.
Overall, should Trump decide to sound a tad more politically moderate for the next couple of months towards a mythical American “unity,” he has Vance as a would-be bulldog to offer malleable television cameras.
Still, Vance comes with his own opinions that want to shut down all abortions without exceptions (including pressuring officials on allowing tracking of abortion patients for prosecution) , that want to keep even victims of domestic violence in marriages, that shun divorces, target immigrants, defend election denialism, and that lean heavily towards a side in the culture wars that fits well with an anti-inclusive political agenda for the country. If you or Trump wanted an anti-Kamala Harris profile, it would be hard to beat Vance.
Where’s the Experience?
Of course, the only thing that Vance is not is being prepared to be president of a whole country that prizes pluralism and change.
Author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” a best-selling memoir about his troubled upbringing and the struggles and pathologies of the white working class, his political conversion and his youth reflect a sloganistic, antithetical view towards government and towards efforts to help those who need it most.
Vance is slick, youthful and apparently very outgoing, Vance’s strong views on American culture run far ahead of any remarkable record in the Senate for attending to the country’s business. He seems another politician with easy answers to complex questions, this time from America’s mid-section where he likely will press the Trump campaign case in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
He opposes aid to Ukraine, unequivocally backs Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, decries climate change and supports oil interests, promotes tariffs, and sees “open borders” as allowing immigrants to take jobs from Americans.
If a tight race ends up in a Congressional fight, as on Jan. 6, 2021, expect Senator Vance to lead the quasi-legal fight to get the House to certify Trump as president.
By all accounts, he is a political product of friends like Tucker Carlson formerly of Fox News, writer Matthew Boyle at Breitbart. the political activist Charlie Kirk, and tech financier Peter Thiel. Those are credentials for one’s MAGA membership card, not being ready to step in as president.
In the end, of course, what we have is an early bet that the MAGA movement can outlast even Trump. That seems the real value proposition Vance is offering to voters — the idea that a vote for Trumpism is a bet on a continuing future.
Voters will need to decide more that the vision is good or bad than on the candidates themselves.
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