Donald Trump picks Ohio Senator JD Vance as his vice presidential candidate.

 

File photo of Donald Trump and JD Vance. BBC/Getty.

Donald Trump has picked Ohio Senator JD Vance as his vice presidential candidate. BBC. Vance gained fame for his landmark book, Hillbilly Elegy, which detailed his humble lower class beginnings and then his rise to an Ivy League law school. Though Vance was once a never-Trumper in the 2016 election, he eventually came around to the President and Trump endorsed him in his 2022 Senate race, which he one. Since being elected Vance has been very close to Trump in terms of policy, being against Ukraine funding, civil disruptions on campus and illegal immigration. Vance is 39 and would be one of the youngest vice presidential candidates in history. Joe Biden made brief remarks about the pick and said that Vance would be a "clone" of Donald Trump. 

My Comment:

I'm a big fan of this pick as I have been a fan of JD Vance for several years now. I have read his book Hillbilly Elegy and it was a good tale of his upbringing and the culture he was raised in. Plus, I agree with him on most issues politically. He was my 1st choice for Trump's VP and I am glad that he was the one that was picked.

Why do I like JD Vance? Because he's been there. He was raised in a dysfunctional lower class home and he has seen how devastated lower class whites have been in flyover country. He understands that the disfunction isn't just because of the government, but because of culture as well. 

But he has also bene apart of the elite, as anyone who got a degree from a Ivy League school is. He has been in both worlds and knows how to navigate both. He hasn't forgotten where he came from but he also is articulate and intelligent enough to navigate the chaos that is an upper class life style. He's also an inspiration and a great example that the American Dream of class mobility isn't totally dead. 

He's also someone that has some appeal to the powers that be, at least he was when he was critical of Trump. Hillbilly Elegy was one of the few things that managed to break through to the upper class and elite as to why Trump won in 2016. He has a way with words and though the elite no longer like him, he's someone they at least know. 

I do think that Vance will be an asset for Trump as well. Though Ohio is no longer a swing state, it's surrounded by the swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Vance's story will be familiar to the people of those states. He grew up in the same rust belt towns that dot the swing states and he should be able to speak to those people and get them out to vote. 

That's a huge asset for Trump as he needs one of three of those states to clinch the election. Given that the swing states of Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada look to be all but locked up for Trump, Vance could help him get the last few electoral votes he needs to beat Biden. This was something that the other candidates for VP, like Marco Rubio and Doug Burgum didn't do, so it may have been a major motivation for the JD Vance pick. 

Of course the elephant in the room is that Trump needed a younger guy to both reassure voters that the country would be in good hands if something should happen to him and have a bit of insurance against assassination. Vance is both capable and very MAGA now so getting rid of Trump doesn't really gain an advantage. Given the events of this weekend it's more relevant than ever, unfortunately. 

The one knock I have against JD Vance is that he was at one point he was very anti-Trump. Some people on social media are apoplectic about that and say he's the 2nd coming of Mike Pence, someone that betrayed Trump when he needed him the most. I don't think that's really a concern as I doubt anyone will want to betray Trump after the assassination attempt and even if they did, I don't see Vance being someone who would do that regardless. Still, it's a shame that he was anti-Trump in 2016.