Trump Picks Anti-Mask Mandate Senator J.D. Vance as VP Running Mate

Former – and if the polls are correct – future President Donald Trump picked Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his Vice-Presidential running mate on Monday.

It is far from a bad choice – in fact it is probably a very good one – but why did he pick someone who only about eight years ago called him “reprehensible” and “an opioid of the masses”?

That part is rather simple – Vance is a Marine vet, his upbringing is straight out of Horatio Alger (he went through so many ‘parents’ he took his grandparents name) and going from Appalachia to the Marines to Yale and then Wall Street, and then writing the best seller Hillbilly Elegy about the destruction of “white trash” like him by unemployment and, well, opioids. And even though Trump is notorious for personally disliking facial hair, the beard lends Vance a more “grown-up’ quality (he has a bit of a baby face, in fact).

But that youth is what most likely secured the spot. Trump, with this pick, is playing the long game. He’s willing to forgive some past statements – Vance very much came around to Trump’s way of thinking (not surprising considering the nascent populism of Elegy) and one of the reasons – a big reason – Vance was elected to the Senate in 2022 is because of Trump’s endorsement.

By the way, since Barack Obama went from Senator to President in four years, it’s okay to go from Senator to Vice President in two.

Trump cannot run for re-election and is aware that a large part of his support is personality rather than ideologically based. He knows he needs someone credible to face down the Uniparty Blob of D.C. after he is gone and Vance – at 39 – can do that for the next 40 years, no matter what happens.

The pick is a stick in the eye of the Republican ‘establishment’ in D.C. It’s a way of saying “get ready to be gone forever” if we win.

Like the Democrats, the anti-Trump Republicans have focused on his personality, the chaos, the changes, his general political messiness. Vance is not like that, which will leave the establishment and its deep state enforcers at a loss as to how to go after him.

True, Vance doesn’t “get” Ohio for Trump – he already had that. But Vance brings to the ticket a personal history-seriousness. Trump – for all the money he made (and lost) on his own – couldn’t stop people from noting that he was born into money, even if it was, sneeringly, “new money”. Vance was not.

Vance also appeals to the Trump supporters that may love him but hate the pandemic response he put into place. Vance introduced and worked hard to pass a bill – that even President Biden signed – that banned the federal Department of Transportation from imposing “mask mandates”. The pandemic response was pretty much over by the time it was signed into law, but it showed Vance’s commitment both to personal freedom and questioning the horrible federal overreach involved in the pandemic response.

As for the rest of the potential VP candidates – starting with the reported finalists (the whole Apprentice spin is garbage – every candidate ever has used a similar process) one can expect the following:

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio continues to grow his power on Capitol Hill, can remain a Senator for life pretty much, and is always available to pinch hit if need be.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum can expect a serious cabinet post if Trump wins, possibly even Treasury.
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley will be sent as ambassador to whatever country hates Trump the most. One can almost hear the “Snidely Whiplash” snickering in the background. Listen closely, and you might even hear Muttley, too.
Vivek Ramaswamy will also end up in the cabinet – Commerce Secretary, anyone? – or have a special consultant advisor job involving some aspect of tech created out of whole cloth for him.
Ben Carson will continue to serve his country as Secretary of Health and Human Services – what will the nation do without Xavier Bocckarhea? – or Chief of the NIH or some other health-related gig.
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott will stay exactly where he is, most likely for a long time (his Presidential campaign ran the gamut from smart and emotionally moving to “what the hell?” within minutes of one another).
New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik almost certainly wouldn’t have even taken it even if offered as it would cut into her growing power in the House of Representatives.
Florida Congressman Byron Donalds stays where he is for the time being, especially since he really shouldn’t have been a serious contender – at this point – anyway.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton will, like Rubio, continue to grow in stature in the Senate. And if the New York Times starts printing the facts again, he may even send them another op-ed or two.
Former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard was my wildcard pick for the gig. A woman, not even a Republican (but no longer a Democrat) and the most closely aligned to Trump’s foreign policy of the bunch, she could have been very interesting. Expect to see her in the cabinet.

So this fall, we will have a Trump/Vance ticket. Seems pretty strong and it has – I say this as a person who has run for office and designed campaign material and such before – another big advantage. They both have five letters in their name:

TRUMP

VANCE

Fits perfectly on a sign.

Thomas Buckley is the former Mayor of Lake Elsinore, California and a former newspaper reporter. Subscribe to his Substack here.