Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance is perhaps best known for appearing incapable of normal human behavior, valuing women by how many babies they crank out, and the endless well of deplorable things he says on podcasts. And yet Donald Trump and his campaign are apparently so thrilled with Vance that they intend to put him out in the public eye even more.
As The Bulwark reports on Friday:
In all, since Trump picked him 52 days ago, Vance has conducted 91 separate media interviews in 23 cities across 11 states.
And in the coming days, he is expected to kick it up a notch with a swing-state bus tour where, advisers say, he’ll try to remain accessible to the media as a means of drawing a sharp contrast with the press-averse Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
This certainly seems like an extension of the all-publicity-is-good-publicity theory that has been the primary driver of Trump’s life. Does it really matter that Vance doesn’t know how to order a doughnut, if 100 million Americans watch him fail?
Vance’s ubiquity allows the right to complain that Harris and running mate Tim Walz are “running a basement campaign,” even as Trump goes the better part of a week without holding a public event. Plus, Vance seems more than happy to make false claims about Walz’s military service, dismiss the concerns of grieving parents, or revive his “cat ladies” insults about women without children.
Trump’s team doesn’t even see Vance’s deep unpopularity as an issue. Here’s The Bulwark again:
That’s because Vance isn’t on the ticket to win over liberals or even, necessarily, persuade moderates. The Trump campaign sees him as an asset in a base turnout election, where the objective is to increase the number of men, especially white men in swing states, who go to the polls.
While Vance keeps the pale bros riled up, Trump has the chance to go out and make noises about softening his positions. Like flip-flopping on marijuana, or tying himself in knots over Florida’s abortion ban.
There are only two problems with the strategy of using Vance to bring home the base while Trump (supposedly) reaches out to the middle.
First, according to recent polls, Harris’ support among women swamps the edge Trump has with men. This election isn’t about whoever can deliver their base to the polls. It’s about which candidate is expanding the map.
Second, that strategy requires that Trump be capable of staying on topic and holding to a position. He’s not.
Also … does even Trump’s base like Vance? Does anyone?
