What the hell happened to JD Vance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I’m a political moderate who despises the progressive left (views them as a group that is as explicitly harmful to the US as the far right), but who also cannot stand Vance. This Twitter thread speaks for a lot of politically moderate women I know.

Yeah, and the difference between the progressive left and JD Vance is that the progressive left is off scrounging in a dumpster for a new tent to put up at SUNY New Paltz's quad so they can REALLY show Israel what is up, and Vance is VERY close to being vice-president and given Trump's age, he'll like finish some of the term. So, prioritize...

Another thing I dislike about the progressive left, in addition to their totalitarian tendencies, is their tiresome inability to stop lecturing people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can Trump drop Vance at this point?

He should have just swallowed his pride and picked Nikki Haley for VP.

Absolutely.

The Vance pick is mystifying. It does nothing for the ticket or the Republican Party. Vance exudes incel vibes, a man who clearly hates women. He does nothing to bring new people into the Republican Party. The kind of people that like Vance and Ben Shapiro and Andrew Tate were already going to vote for Trump.

I'm guessing it was just over-confidence. Trump was on a good trajectory to easily win - Biden imploding at the debate, assassination attempt, more and more states becoming competitive. And now Vice President Harris will be the nominee. Suddenly, Trump looks like a moron for picking Vance. He is huge liability for the GOP. Definitely should have picked Haley.

+1. Dem, and let’s be honest. Rs should have chosen her over Trump as the nominee. Because if she were, Dems really would be done this cycle. She would have mopped the floor with Biden and made it impossible for subbing Harris in to be anything but downside.

So, so glad the Rs weren’t savvy enough to suck it and choose the qualified, attractive, articulate one.

Disagree. Trump could have picked Cookie Monster. It doesn’t matter. His base will still vote for him. The VP pick sways no one. The people that were planning to vote for him still will, just like the people that were planning to vote for Biden will vote for any cardboard cut out the Dems put on the ballot. Kamala’s VP pick also won’t move any votes. The independents are the votes to win, but those don’t come from the VP pick. They will come from the issues people ultimately decide are most important to them.

Agree, people really don't understand the Trump phenomenon. Trump is the vote getter; he doesn't need a VP for that. In his VP he wants fealty above all else and JD's political career would be nowhere without Trump''s blessing that saved him in his Senate race. He is beholden to Trump, will be Trump's attack dog and will willfully do anything Trump asks him to do because he owes a great deal of his political existence and ascent to Trump.

Again. Trumps base alone isn’t enough. Ask 2020 about that and then consider all the Gen Z who started voting since and all the Boomers who died. Mathematically, Cult Trump is large. But not 50% of the swing states large. He needs some independents. That’s what the VP pick did. Pence was great because he got the jittery traditional Republicans plus reassured Evangelics that the guy with no morals was okay, so they didn’t stay home. Without that, those 100k votes would have gone to HRC. Vance gets him no one outside his cult.

You do not understand Trump. Trump is the vote getter. Period. He is not going to stand another "traitor" like Pence. He was already making significant inroads with black voters and other demographics without having announced a Vice President. The VP will do nothing for him vote-wise. It is on him and on him alone. His VP will serve other purposes.

what purpose is this guy going to serve?

also, it's not only about getting votes. he could be taking away some votes trump is getting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I’m a political moderate who despises the progressive left (views them as a group that is as explicitly harmful to the US as the far right), but who also cannot stand Vance. This Twitter thread speaks for a lot of politically moderate women I know.

His wife is a gender traitor.

How incredibly sexist you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can Trump drop Vance at this point?

He should have just swallowed his pride and picked Nikki Haley for VP.

Absolutely.

The Vance pick is mystifying. It does nothing for the ticket or the Republican Party. Vance exudes incel vibes, a man who clearly hates women. He does nothing to bring new people into the Republican Party. The kind of people that like Vance and Ben Shapiro and Andrew Tate were already going to vote for Trump.

I'm guessing it was just over-confidence. Trump was on a good trajectory to easily win - Biden imploding at the debate, assassination attempt, more and more states becoming competitive. And now Vice President Harris will be the nominee. Suddenly, Trump looks like a moron for picking Vance. He is huge liability for the GOP. Definitely should have picked Haley.

+1. Dem, and let’s be honest. Rs should have chosen her over Trump as the nominee. Because if she were, Dems really would be done this cycle. She would have mopped the floor with Biden and made it impossible for subbing Harris in to be anything but downside.

So, so glad the Rs weren’t savvy enough to suck it and choose the qualified, attractive, articulate one.

Disagree. Trump could have picked Cookie Monster. It doesn’t matter. His base will still vote for him. The VP pick sways no one. The people that were planning to vote for him still will, just like the people that were planning to vote for Biden will vote for any cardboard cut out the Dems put on the ballot. Kamala’s VP pick also won’t move any votes. The independents are the votes to win, but those don’t come from the VP pick. They will come from the issues people ultimately decide are most important to them.

Agree, people really don't understand the Trump phenomenon. Trump is the vote getter; he doesn't need a VP for that. In his VP he wants fealty above all else and JD's political career would be nowhere without Trump''s blessing that saved him in his Senate race. He is beholden to Trump, will be Trump's attack dog and will willfully do anything Trump asks him to do because he owes a great deal of his political existence and ascent to Trump.

Again. Trumps base alone isn’t enough. Ask 2020 about that and then consider all the Gen Z who started voting since and all the Boomers who died. Mathematically, Cult Trump is large. But not 50% of the swing states large. He needs some independents. That’s what the VP pick did. Pence was great because he got the jittery traditional Republicans plus reassured Evangelics that the guy with no morals was okay, so they didn’t stay home. Without that, those 100k votes would have gone to HRC. Vance gets him no one outside his cult.

You do not understand Trump. Trump is the vote getter. Period. He is not going to stand another "traitor" like Pence. He was already making significant inroads with black voters and other demographics without having announced a Vice President. The VP will do nothing for him vote-wise. It is on him and on him alone. His VP will serve other purposes.

what purpose is this guy going to serve?

also, it's not only about getting votes. he could be taking away some votes trump is getting.

He is going to be his loyal attack dog who speaks well and jumps whenever Trump says "how high". He will have no ideas of his own and be completely beholden to Trump. What independent base does Vance have outside of Trump's political patronage? Additionally, if Trump wins he will hold the reins of the party probably until he dies. This is an audition for flag bearer who Trump will control even after he is out of office.

[Anonymous]

Whoopsie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Disagree. Trump could have picked Cookie Monster. It doesn’t matter. His base will still vote for him.

This is confusing. Who wouldn't vote for Cookie Monster?

Good point. The cookie platform is strong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Disagree. Trump could have picked Cookie Monster. It doesn’t matter. His base will still vote for him.

This is confusing. Who wouldn't vote for Cookie Monster?

Good point. The cookie platform is strong.

I wouldn’t. Cookie Monster isn’t allowed to talk about cookies anymore. He talks about vegetables now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whoopsie.

I'm so ready for this!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can Trump drop Vance at this point?

He should have just swallowed his pride and picked Nikki Haley for VP.

Absolutely.

The Vance pick is mystifying. It does nothing for the ticket or the Republican Party. Vance exudes incel vibes, a man who clearly hates women. He does nothing to bring new people into the Republican Party. The kind of people that like Vance and Ben Shapiro and Andrew Tate were already going to vote for Trump.

I'm guessing it was just over-confidence. Trump was on a good trajectory to easily win - Biden imploding at the debate, assassination attempt, more and more states becoming competitive. And now Vice President Harris will be the nominee. Suddenly, Trump looks like a moron for picking Vance. He is huge liability for the GOP. Definitely should have picked Haley.

+1. Dem, and let’s be honest. Rs should have chosen her over Trump as the nominee. Because if she were, Dems really would be done this cycle. She would have mopped the floor with Biden and made it impossible for subbing Harris in to be anything but downside.

So, so glad the Rs weren’t savvy enough to suck it and choose the qualified, attractive, articulate one.

Disagree. Trump could have picked Cookie Monster. It doesn’t matter. His base will still vote for him. The VP pick sways no one. The people that were planning to vote for him still will, just like the people that were planning to vote for Biden will vote for any cardboard cut out the Dems put on the ballot. Kamala’s VP pick also won’t move any votes. The independents are the votes to win, but those don’t come from the VP pick. They will come from the issues people ultimately decide are most important to them.

Agree, people really don't understand the Trump phenomenon. Trump is the vote getter; he doesn't need a VP for that. In his VP he wants fealty above all else and JD's political career would be nowhere without Trump''s blessing that saved him in his Senate race. He is beholden to Trump, will be Trump's attack dog and will willfully do anything Trump asks him to do because he owes a great deal of his political existence and ascent to Trump.

Again. Trumps base alone isn’t enough. Ask 2020 about that and then consider all the Gen Z who started voting since and all the Boomers who died. Mathematically, Cult Trump is large. But not 50% of the swing states large. He needs some independents. That’s what the VP pick did. Pence was great because he got the jittery traditional Republicans plus reassured Evangelics that the guy with no morals was okay, so they didn’t stay home. Without that, those 100k votes would have gone to HRC. Vance gets him no one outside his cult.

You do not understand Trump. Trump is the vote getter. Period. He is not going to stand another "traitor" like Pence. He was already making significant inroads with black voters and other demographics without having announced a Vice President. The VP will do nothing for him vote-wise. It is on him and on him alone. His VP will serve other purposes.

And he will lose by 100k votes, which a good VP pick could have gotten him.

We will see. He is not relying on any VP to get votes though. That is not his mindset. You are using the mindset of a normal politician, which Trump is not.

I’m using 4th grade math. Which Trump finds challenging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Disagree. Trump could have picked Cookie Monster. It doesn’t matter. His base will still vote for him.

This is confusing. Who wouldn't vote for Cookie Monster?

Good point. The cookie platform is strong.

I wouldn’t. Cookie Monster isn’t allowed to talk about cookies anymore. He talks about vegetables now.

Me neither. I’m not allowed to think about cookies anymore. I think about chicken and lentils now. Wegovy. FML.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's a decent dude, and his wife is great. But he's quite ambitious and made the political calculus a while ago that the National Review brand of conservatism was not a viable path for his political fortunes. He can be thoughtful and nuanced (and some of his writings reflect this, even if you do not agree with him), but nobody is buying that these days, especially with the specter of Trumpism looming. He's had to walk back a number of his anti-Trump opinions in order to try to carve out a niche. This is the calculus that has been made, but it does not appear to be working.

Look at Asha Rangappa, who was at YLS at the same time as JD and is now a twitter warrior. These things happen when visibility, attention, ambition, scrutiny and brand-building enter the mix.

As evidenced by Ted Cruz at the SCOTUS confirmation hearings recently, you would be surprised (or perhaps not) by the number of esteemed, venerable people who are completely obsessed with their twitter mentions and the concomitant attention high. Sign of the times.

+1 to all of this.

I have to say that I do really wonder about his wife and how she's dealing with this. It would be hard for impossible for me to deal with this. They seemingly moved to Ohio to be close to his roots and to work to "make things better" with your spouse who was moderate right at best. Now the dude is more or less on the Trump. I don't think I could deal.

Agreed. Divorce would likely be in my future. Indian Americans tend to be politically conservative but what he's signed onto is not conservative in the least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He found a grift by pandering to the rubes.

+1
Grifters grift.

I don't think this is just a grift. After the popularity of his book, he was given a number of platforms including tv appearances, speaking engagements and venture capital etc. After his initial surge in popularity, he tried to be a thoughtful, reasonable, nuanced voice speaking to what he saw as some of the structural problems in this country. He just realized that this was not viable for him in a post-Trump era and pivoted era.

Heard much from Ramesh Ponnuru lately? Yuval Levin? Reihan Salam? Erick Erickson? These guys were, at one point, supposed to be conversation-shapers at the vanguard of new conservatism and J.D. was dabbling in that conversation and ideological hand wringing. Trump has sucked all of the energy out of the room and now political branding is defined by reference to Trump, until he is off the scene for good.

Unlike someone like Trump, JD has been thinking about running for public office for quite a while and curating his steps with that in mind. He fashions himself a serious person and a serious thinker. But you have to survive in this game. He made his choice, but I don't think it was all a grift, so much as it was an attempt to keep his fledgling political career from running into immediate headwinds.

I think he's toast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read the book. I was struck by three things:

- The first half of the book was sensitively written; the second was a conservative screed.
- When he first got to Yale, his friends seemed to be others who felt at least somewhat like outsiders. Once Vance seemed to have broken the code and been accepted by elite power brokers, there were few, if any, mentions of the people who had befriended him when he felt out of place.
- He seems to have limited empathy and imagination. He either doesn’t get or doesn’t care that it’s easier to work the system when you’re white and male than when you’re not — despite working hard, being intelligent, and even attending an Ivy League law school. I’m sure he has qualities that might not be adequately captured in the book, but that really made me wonder about how that attitude will impact his biracial kids.

tldr: He got to make the leap from self-proclaimed “hillbilly” to something approximating a hillbilly’s vision of what a rich, powerful, white male looks like. . It’s a caricature he embraces.

And one which many underwmployed and undereducated white men in the heartland aspire to. I live here and I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whoopsie.

I'm so ready for this!

Ready For It?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whoopsie.

I'm so ready for this!

Baby, let the games begin!