When President Trump picked Republican Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, he exposed a massive weakness the left was hoping to ignore.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a former mayor with little accomplishments outside of meeting the Biden Administration’s DEI quota, attacked Vance as someone who will say anything to get ahead.
“When I got to Harvard, I found a lot of people like him who would say whatever they needed to get ahead, and five years ago, that seemed like being the anti-Trump Republican, so that’s what he was… Five years later, the way he gets ahead is that [Trump’s] the greatest guy since sliced bread,” Buttigieg told HBO’s Bill Maher.
Forgot how eloquent Buttigieg was! Absolutely destroyed JD Vance here. Where has Pete been this whole time?
— Steve Hou (@stevehouf) July 20, 2024
But all of this is a distraction from the obvious fear that Vance brings to the race. He’s the voice of the blue-collar worker, a massive voting block that the Democrat party has long forgotten about. (‘Faceplant’: KJP Puts On A Clinic For The Best Way To Prove A Conspiracy Is Real)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JULY 15: U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance look on as he is nominated for the office of Vice President on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Delegates, politicians, and the Republican faithful are in Milwaukee for the annual convention, concluding with former President Donald Trump accepting his party’s presidential nomination. The RNC takes place from July 15-18. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Vance didn’t come from money. His family’s struggle mimics that of most low-income households plagued with addiction and financial difficulties due to the lack of economic growth in their hometowns. He’s connected to both Appalachia and Ohio. He made it out of his hard upbringing by joining the military, graduating from Yale Law School, and accumulating his wealth in Silicon Valley. He didn’t forget his people and went back home to work on building better lives for them.
He’s a nightmare for a party that abandoned the middle class with policies that destroyed their ability to have good-paying jobs. Every day he’s on the campaign trail, speaking to these voters is a disaster for them. Trump was already good at talking to the plight of the working-class voters, but Vance is one of them. He doesn’t just empathize with their struggles. He understands it because he’s lived it. (ROOKE: Swing-State Candidate Gives Republicans Clear-Cut Plan To End Kamala’s Momentum)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JULY 17: Republican vice presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) speaks during a fundraising event at Discovery World on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The fundraiser was Vance’s first since being picked to be the Vice President for Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
While Vice President Kamala Harris is going to drum up support from the degenerates in Hollywood, Vance is going to tap into what used to be the Democrats’ base. Hillary Clinton lost to Trump in 2016 because of her apparent disdain for working-class voters, which resulted in a record number of votes for Republicans from middle-class Americans. Vance will help deliver Rust Belt voters in November, which should terrify Democrats because it speaks to the long-term implications of the party’s position with the working class.
A recent piece by New York Magazine spoke to Democrats after Vance’s speech at the Republican National Convention, who seem to understand how his message could affect their party.
“After Vance won the veepstakes, Democrats — privately at least — registered the pick with some alarm. During his RNC address, a midwestern Democratic operative, who had been sending me anti-Vance texts throughout the day, wrote back: ‘This speech is scary good and compelling,'” NY Mag reported.
Having Vance on the ticket addresses more than just gaining votes from the working class in November. It also brings in voices who would otherwise be very loyal to the Democrats, like Teamsters president Sean O’Brian, who could help mark a shift from immediate political support to long-lasting economic recovery in these communities.
A Democrat senatorial aide told NY Mag that O’Brian’s praise of Vance at the RNC sent shockwaves in labor circles and allied Capital Hill offices, according to the outlet. “By no means is anybody in our universe underestimating the ripple effect of his hyperpopulist economic message,” the aide said.
Vance’s ability to help shift Republicans from the party of the rich to the working class by entrenching an economically populist philosophy in the party will upend the power structure for years to come. But it has to be more than just speeches and campaign stumping. Vance has the knowledge and capability to guide Republicans into doing more for working-class voters than the Democrats who typically serve as their representatives.
If he’s successful, the long-term future of the Democrat party is in peril.
