The vice-presidential nominees have received immense coverage in this election and are shaping out to be crucial components to their respective campaigns. With Joe Biden out of the race and his own vice president taking up the mantle, a good running mate is going to be key to a victory in November.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have each chosen their running mates, JD Vance and Tim Walz. In the weeks following their decisions, the candidates have had the chance to introduce themselves to voters.
Vance, a venture capitalist endorsed by Silicon Valley claims to represent the working class and runs a campaign centered around family values and limited government. Once outspoken against Trump’s cult of personality, the Ohio Senator shifted his rhetoric and adopted Trump’s right-wing populist ideologies.
Unfortunately for the Trump campaign, voters do not seem to be resonating with Vance’s brand of politics. Rather than broadening his base and appealing to a larger range of voters, Vance appeals to evangelicals, the alt-right and other radical groups already firmly aligned with Trump.
On his Senate campaign website, he identified himself as “100% pro-life” and wants abortion “completely eliminated,” a stance even Trump’s own campaign has been unwilling to take, as it would alienate many voters.
Furthermore, the Vance pick does nothing to abate concerns about Trump’s proximity to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. Trump maintains that he has no knowledge about the project, but his choice of running mate seemingly undercuts this claim.
Vance has deep ties to Kevin Roberts, the Heritage Foundation’s president and the architect of Project 2025, he even wrote the foreword to Roberts’s upcoming book, “Dawn’s Early Light.”
The New Republic, who obtained a copy of this foreword, reported it contained extreme language, including “a call for followers to ‘circle the wagons and load the muskets,’ and describes Roberts’ ideas as an ‘essential weapon’ in the ‘fights that lay [sic] ahead.’”
Vance is far from the best vice-presidential nominee Trump could choose. The Hill reported that only around a quarter of Americans think he was a good pick. In the days leading up to his decision, sources close to the former president said he was favoring North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a far more moderate choice than Vance. Ultimately, it was Trump’s own children Eric and Don Jr. who convinced their father to run alongside the young Ohio Senator.
The choice was a victory lap for Trump. He believed he could double down on his far-right rhetoric and still beat Biden; however, now that he is up against the younger, more popular Harris, his victory lap has done irreparable damage to his campaign.
Contrarily, Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Walz, has been a substantial asset to her ticket. His working-class background and characteristic Midwestern sociability appeals to voters who do not see themselves in the big-city career politician that Harris is.
Walz has more experience than his counterpart, who has only served as senator for less than two years. Walz also represented Minnesota’s First Congressional District for six terms, and has served as governor since 2019.
There, he acquired a laundry list of legislative accomplishments. He codified abortion rights, cut taxes for working class families, lowered the cost of insulin and established universal background checks for gun purchases.
A Walz pick hopes to bring in moderate voters, rather than pushing them out. He is a progressive, but he is also a gun owner, a family man, a former high school teacher and a veteran of the Minnesota National Guard.
According to a recent AP-NORC poll, independents already slightly favored Walz, before he even took the stage at the Democratic National Convention.
Polls from ABC News’s FiveThirtyEight also show that more Americans hold a favorable than unfavorable opinion of Walz. The opposite is true for Vance. They report just 34.1% of Americans having a favorable opinion of him, compared to 43.9% who view him unfavorably.
Picking Vance has been one of the single worst decisions the Trump campaign has made this election. Vance does nothing to separate Trump from the radical right wing that is destroying the Republican party and is viewed so unfavorably that he will likely cost Trump votes in November.
Walz, however, has proven himself to be a key factor in Harris’ so-far successful campaign. He has helped drive up her approval ratings, making up for lost time in an election where every second counts for the sitting VP.
This story was written by Joey Schamber. He can be reached at [email protected].
