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Donald Trump on Monday announced that he has given J.D. Vance a spot on the GOP ticket. The Ohio senator used to be a critic of the former president but has since fallen in line.
Trump, of course, needed a new running mate after his supporters wanted to kill Vice President Mike Pence when the former Indiana governor did not want to participate in the 2020 coup to steal the presidential election from Joe Biden.
Vance does not bring a lot to the ticket in terms of balancing it geographically, demographically, or ideologically.
While Pence was supposed to help the ethically challenged and religiously ignorant Trump to become more palatable for evangelical Christians, that is no longer necessary.
After all, many of them now believe that the former president is a champion of their god, which was only reinforced when Trump survived an assassination attempt Saturday.
In other words, Vance clearly isn’t needed to shore up the GOP’s conservative base, and, because he now espouses most of Trump’s views, he likely also won’t help a lot with moderates.
A great example is his position on climate change.
Just four years ago, he said in a speech at Ohio University that “we have a climate problem in our society” and expressed support for solar energy as well as natural gas, which he called “an improvement over dirtier forms of power.”
Now, however, he has turned hard right on environmental issues.
“I think that Vance’s transition from acknowledging climate issues to his current fossil fuel-friendly stance is emblematic of a larger trend within today’s GOP,” said Cassidy DiPaola, the spokesperson for the environmental advocacy group Fossil Free Media. “It illustrates how the party has increasingly aligned itself with fossil fuel interests, most often at the expense of addressing climate change and promoting clean energy.”
DiPaola noted that Vance’s shift is symptomatic for today’s GOP.
“It demonstrates the pressure within the GOP to conform to a pro-fossil fuel agenda, even for those who previously recognized climate concerns,” she added. “In my opinion, this evolution mirrors the broader Republican party’s movement away from climate action and towards an almost uniform embrace of expanded fossil fuel production.”
Finally, Vance is another white man on the ticket, so he won’t appeal to a specific demographic.
It is possible that his “working man” credentials, boosted by the publication of his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, could help Republicans in the Rust Belt, especially the crucial swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
His book also touches on some anti-corporate themes, i.e., that America’s companies are exploiting the working man. But it stands to reason that this won’t be a main concern for voters of a party that has worked tirelessly to keep the federal minimum wage at $7.25.
That certainly seems to be Trump’s thinking.
“[Vance] will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond as Vice President,” the former president stated.
However, it seems unlikely that Vance (or any other running mate) will be able to deliver many votes that Trump can’t get for himself.
So, why was he chosen as a running mate?
Probably because, even though he used to be very critical of Trump, he is now a loyal soldier. And that’s the kind of man the former president needs if he returns to power… especially if he needs to stage another coup.
