Trump’s Choice

Former President Donald Trump announced today that Ohio Senator J.D. Vance will be his vice presidential running mate, just as our unofficial poll predicted last week.

Vance is the epitome of the American Dream. He was born into a working-class family in southeastern Ohio. His parents divorced when he was young, and his mother struggled with addiction issues. Vance joined the Marines after high school and served in the Iraq War.

After his military service, Vance graduated from Yale Law School and moved to California to work for a venture capital firm. In 2016, Vance wrote “Hillbilly Elegy,” a memoir about his life growing up in rural America and how our cultural elites have turned their backs on working-class Americans, a major theme of Donald Trump’s America First agenda.

Vance was not a Trump fan in 2016. But like many skeptical conservatives, he quickly came to appreciate Trump’s focus on rebuilding America’s industrial base, bringing jobs home, and putting our workers first. He apologized for his past criticism of Trump and said he was “a great president.”

Given his upbringing, Vance relates to the challenges confronting working-class Americans and the “forgotten man and woman.” He has the potential to appeal to voters in key states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

He’s an interesting choice for another reason. Donald Trump wants to ensure that his legacy is more than just the next four years. He wants to ensure that the MAGA movement endures and that the Republican Party does not return to its swampy establishment ways.

At 39 years old, Vance represents generational change, a “passing of the torch” from one era to the next. He will ably serve Donald Trump and could well lead the country for another eight years.