People don't run for vice president, at least not obviously. The choice is left to the party's presidential nominee.
But a potential vice president (or the person the vice president is expected to fill the post with) has no right to do anything related to the job, even if it's just a change of direction in the minds of the public and the minds of presidential candidates. Needs to be “mentioned”.
And that appears to be the case with Cincinnati Republican JD (James David) Vance, a young U.S. senator from Ohio who turns 40 on August 2nd.
National media outlets, including The New York Times, recently reported that this year's Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald J. I'm speculating about it. running mate.
JD and Donald Jr.
Additionally, the newspaper reported that a key factor in Vance's stance on President Trump was his friendship with the Ohio senator and former president's son Donald Trump Jr. If you tell me, I'll tell you what you are (reminiscent of the old adage “I am what I am”).
more:President Trump holds fundraiser in Cincinnati with Sen. J.D. Vance amid rumors about vice president
But in a way, that's unfair to Vance.
Trump, his junior, was brought to this point by an accident at birth.
Vance, on the other hand, got this far largely because of the sheer grit that helped him overcome a tough childhood and join the United States Marine Corps. Universities (Ohio State University, Yale Law School). Best-selling author (“Hillbilly Elegy”). And in the Senate in 2022, Vance defeated then-U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, a suburban Warren Democrat, with 53% of the statewide vote to Ryan's 47%.
Vance's performance has been impressive, but not without some obvious contradictions.
When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, Vance was one of his fiercest critics. But Vance eventually relented. And in 2022, Trump endorsed Vance for the Senate.
The young senator from Ohio is now one of the former president's strongest allies in Congress, particularly, but not exclusively, on the issue of foreign policy, especially American aid to Ukraine to protect itself from Russia. He is one of the
Vance supports shifting the focus of American foreign policy and defense away from Europe and toward Asia, namely China. Onlookers sometimes confuse it with isolationism, but that's not the issue at Ohio State. Drawing a north-south line through the center of Ohio, to the west isolationism was, and perhaps still is, a thread running through Republican politics in Ohio.
What does this mean for people in Ohio?
Viewed from this vantage point, Mr. Vance appears to be in good hands with others, including the state's senior senator, Cleveland Democrat Sherrod Brown, when it comes to the meat-and-potatoes issue in Ohio.
For example, Mr. Vance, along with Mr. Brown, has been an outspoken advocate for the victims of the South Norfolk derailment in Columbiana County, eastern Palestine. Coincidentally or not, this area is heavily Republican. Vance is also co-sponsoring the bill with other Senate Democrats, including New Hampshire's Maggie Hassan (to promote home care) and Rhode Island's Sheldon Whitehouse (to repeal the merger tax break).
George Jaskew:'Very' Intelligent J.D. Vance's Mean Position on Ukraine Is a Danger to the World
As mentioned above, all three vice presidents were born in Ohio, but none of them were residents of Ohio at the time they were elected vice president.
- Democrat Thomas Hendricks was born near Zanesville in 1819 and was a resident of Indiana when he was selected as Grover Cleveland's running mate in 1884.
- Charles W. Fairbanks, a Republican, was born in Unionville Center, Union County, in 1852, was also a resident of Indiana, and was elected vice president of Theodore Roosevelt in 1904.
- Charles G. Dawes, a Republican from Marietta, was a resident of Illinois when he was elected Vice President in 1924 as Calvin Coolidge's running mate.
Rather than running for vice president, at least in modern times, people generally signal that they're interested and available through a look, a nudge, or a “mention.”
Strategically, as of his writing, Donald Trump will (according to polls) lead Ohio this November, no matter who his running mate is. But given Mr. Trump's age (77) and the incumbent Democrat Joseph R. Biden (81), voters around the world will naturally focus on the candidate's running mate.
And JD Vance, 39 years old as of this writing, is bright, apparently healthy, and extremely ambitious.
Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes at Ohio University. tsuddes@gmail.com