I have to admit that I found Donald Trump’s pick of J.D. Vance as his running mate a bit underwhelming. Trump doesn’t need Vance to win Ohio, and Vance underperformed when he won his Senate seat in 2022. For what it’s worth, though, Vance is a far better pick than Gov. Doug Burgum.
Personally, I was rooting for Sen. Tim Scott. His personal story impressed me, and I've admired him for years. He's been a strong advocate for Trump and handles hostile media with ease. Considering how polls have shown Trump making significant gains among black voters, there was also no denying that choosing Scott as his running mate could boost black turnout for the Republican ticket — another plus. I thought it would be a good long-term strategy as well, as Scott's inspiring story and role as VP could be key in helping the GOP reclaim black voters who have long supported the Democratic Party. In short, I felt that not picking Scott was a missed opportunity.
That doesn’t mean Vance won’t grow on me. Heck, I wasn’t sold on Donald Trump for most of 2016.
For our VIPs: Why It Doesn’t Matter That Vance Was Once a Never Trumper
I should note that Vance’s personal story is quite compelling, too. And much of that story, I admit, I wasn’t privy to before his selection. He was born into poverty in Appalachia, and his childhood was marred by his mother’s addiction and domestic violence. Eventually, he wound up in the care of his grandparents. Vance deserves a significant amount of respect for not allowing himself to be a victim of his circumstances and instead becoming an American success story.
I should be clear that I never questioned Vance’s commitment to conservative values. He has a lifetime conservative ranking of 93%, compared to the average Senate Republican ranking of 61%.
If you need any more convincing about J.D. Vance, I point you to a September 2023 article from The Atlantic written by Mitt Romney’s biographer, McKay Coppins.
But as Romney surveyed the crop of Republicans running for Senate in 2022, it was clear that more Hawleys were on their way. Perhaps most disconcerting was J. D. Vance, the Republican candidate in Ohio. “I don’t know that I can disrespect someone more than J. D. Vance,” Romney told me. They’d first met years earlier, after he read Vance’s best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. Romney was so impressed with the book that he hosted the author at his annual Park City summit in 2018. Vance, who grew up in a poor, dysfunctional family in Appalachia and went on to graduate from Yale Law School, had seemed bright and thoughtful, with interesting ideas about how Republicans could court the white working class without indulging in toxic Trumpism. Then, in 2021, Vance decided he wanted to run for Senate, and reinvented his entire persona overnight. Suddenly, he was railing against the “childless left” and denouncing Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a “fake holiday” and accusing Joe Biden of manufacturing the opioid crisis “to punish people who didn’t vote for him.” The speed of the MAGA makeover was jarring.
“I don’t know that I can disrespect someone more than J. D. Vance," said Mitt Romney.
Is there any better endorsement than that?
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