It took no time whatsoever for the Democrats and the media to pounce on Donald Trump’s selection of Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate. Democrats have predictably brought up Vance’s past criticisms of Trump and have misconstrued past quotes or taken them out of context — all par for the course. But some have raised questions about Vance’s experience. Let me tell you that this is a road Democrats don’t want to go down.
In the political arena, experts often tout experience as a critical factor for leadership. However, the left applies the importance of experience selectively.
In 2008, Democratic primary voters chose then-Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) over Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY). Obama and Clinton were easily the least experienced Democrats in the 2008 Democratic primary, and there was no question that Clinton was more experienced than Obama. And Obama couldn’t begin to compete with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on the issue of experience.
Ironically, Democrats called McCain “too old” for the presidency, yet he was younger than Joe Biden when the Democratic Party nominated him for president. The narrative about McCain’s age in 2008 was a major liability for him when he picked Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) as his running mate, whom Democrats dubbed as inexperienced at the time, even though she had more executive experience than Obama as the sitting governor of Alaska.
Related: How Mitt Romney Sold Me on J.D. Vance
Obama’s experience was minimal, yet that didn’t stop Democrats from rallying behind him, arguing that his vision outweighed his lack of a lengthy political track record. In reality, Democrats were simply more concerned about skin color and wanted to be a part of electing the first black president in history. Obama was aware that his inexperience was a liability for him, so he chose Biden as his running mate to fill the experience void.
Biden would eventually run for president in 2020. Democrats, who had argued in 2008 that McCain was too old to be president at 72, eagerly rallied behind Biden, who turned 78 just weeks after the election and was clearly in poorer health than McCain had been when he ran for president.
Obviously, Biden knew that his advanced age was a problem and chose someone younger as his running mate. Somehow, he landed on Kamala Harris, a first-term senator who advanced in her early career thanks to an affair she had with San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown in the 1990s. Yeah, I went there.
Adding to the hypocrisy of the experience argument is the current state of the Biden presidency, which is a disaster. With his extensive political experience spanning several decades, Biden presented himself as a seasoned politician who could work with both parties to steer the nation effectively. Instead, incompetence, scandals, crises, and missteps have plagued his presidency. From the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan to rising inflation and a border crisis, Biden's tenure has been anything but smooth.
It goes without saying that his long resume failed to translate into effective leadership. So let’s not pretend that more experience is the key to success.
