Throughout much of American history, the vice president has been an inconsequential part of presidential administrations. Sure, there are certain functions a vice president has, including serving as president of the Senate and a tie-breaking vote in that body, but most veeps go unnoticed and even forgotten in history.
When Donald Trump ran again in 2024, speculation about who he would choose as his running mate abounded. Would he pick a woman? A minority? A Democrat (as a way to build bipartisan bridges)? Instead, he chose JD Vance.
James Orr writes at The Spectator:
Donald Trump’s selection of Vance as his running-mate defied conventional wisdom. Running-mates are almost always chosen as a matter of pure tactical calculation, whether it is to add youth to the ticket (Nixon in 1952, Quayle in 1988) or experience (Biden in 2008, LBJ in 1960); to broaden a campaign’s geographic reach (Truman in 1944, Bush Sr. in 1980); or to appeal to women and ethnic minorities (Harris in 2020). It is a measure of how confident Trump was of victory that he dismissed these considerations. Choosing Vance was, by any measure, desperately risky: he entered the race as the least popular running-mate in modern history.
Why did Trump take the gamble? It was Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump who advanced the winning argument. If, the reasoning went, their father was to cement his transformation of the political landscape, the decision should be based not on who would help Trump win in 2024, but who would help Trumpism win in 2028.
In other words, choosing Vance was Trump’s way of appointing an heir apparent for his movement. It was the smartest choice Trump could make.
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For a long time, MAGA was a movement for flamethrowers. People like Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Steve Bannon were disruptors, but now Gaetz is out of Congress, Greene fits in more with the typical rhythms of Congress, and Bannon is — well, whatever he is. But the flamethrowers and disruptors can’t sustain a movement.
Trump continues to be himself, and we wouldn’t expect any less. But he campaigned and is governing with more wisdom, which is the product of learning from his mistakes and surrounding himself with better people than he did the first time around. He has turned into the elder statesman that MAGA needs.
Vance, on the other hand, is a perfect vessel to take MAGA into the future. He’s telegenic enough to make women swoon, unflappable in the face of tough questions, and brings a writer’s flair (as a writer, there’s something satisfying about seeing a fellow writer win) to the table. What’s more, he takes a no-nonsense approach to the populist, elite-busting conservatism that MAGA has become.
“Vance’s skepticism towards so many of liberalism’s axioms is bound to spook an elite class that has been wedded for decades to beliefs that have wrought irreparable damage on the kind of communities J.D. grew up in,” Orr writes. “If he holds his nerve, he may well prove to be a more politically effective standard bearer for Trumpism than Trump himself.”
Donald Trump knows that he can’t be the standard-bearer for his movement forever. He’s getting older, and Lord knows that this summer’s events made him aware of his mortality. Choosing the right face to take MAGA into the future was a crucial move, and JD Vance was the smart choice to become that face.
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