JD Vance does more than give Trump a MAGA heir. It changes the age conversation.
On Monday, JD Vance was announced to be the vice presidential nominee for the Republican Party. Overnight, he went from a brand-new senator with an acclaimed memoir to Donald Trump’s right-hand man and the MAGA movement’s most likely successor.
At 39 years old, he also brings down the average age on the Republican ticket. If elected, he’d be one of the youngest vice presidents ever. He isn’t a traditional pick, which is probably one of the reasons Trump picked him.
I’m not a fan of Vance, but it makes sense to me that Trump picked the Ohio senator as his running mate. Picking the young guy is a twofold decision.
On one hand, it appeases voters who are concerned the country is heading into a gerontocracy. It also allows Trump to handpick the party’s next presidential candidate and someone who is ready to bend the knee.
Our candidates are old. Really old.
It’s no secret that President Joe Biden and Trump are old. It’s all anyone has been able to talk about since their disastrous June debate.
Biden is 81. Trump is 78. The two men were the oldest candidates in U.S. history to debate each other. Biden is the oldest president in our nation’s history. Trump, if reelected, would be the second oldest. It’s something voters – especially young voters – are taking note of.
According to a February New York Times/Siena poll, the vast majority of voters ages 18-29 – more than 80% – believe Biden is too old to be effective as president, and 61% of voters in this age range believe Trump is too old as well.
The conversation about age, in turn, affects Biden’s standing in the polls. A May NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that, when all potential candidates are considered, Trump leads the field by 6 percentage points among Gen Z and millennial voters.
JD Vance won't unify GOP: Trump's VP pick makes it clear unity isn't the goal of the Republican Party
With the selection of Vance, Trump is offering voters someone young without removing himself from the conversation. If young voters are looking at these two candidates and lamenting their ages, they may find Vance’s age to be an asset to the Republican Party.
Now that the two are combining their fan bases, it's likely that we'll see some shifts among Republican voters. Trump's voting bloc has become older and whiter since he was elected president in 2016. With Vance's help, it's possible that he can win back some of the younger voters he lost in 2020.
JD Vance complements Trump for Republicans focusing on November
Vance could also give Trump more credibility with the working class. Trump grew up with wealthy parents in New York City; Vance grew up poor in the Rust Belt. It allows Trump to relate to his base while still being the center of attention.
Despite their different upbringings, Vance and Trump are politically aligned. Both favor nationalism and tout conservative values. They purportedly have great chemistry, which is something Trump cares about.
Vance gives Trump his legacy: With JD Vance pick at VP, Trump tries to shape GOP for years to come
Above all, Vance is clearly ready to be a yes-man. He has already said that he would have done what former Vice President Mike Pence failed to do on Jan. 6, 2021. Vance said he wouldn't have certified the 2020 election results.
While that may concern voters and people who like democracy, it puts him in lockstep with the Republican Party as it is today and as it intends to be after Trump’s departure.
Still, Trump picking Vance is a bad sign for America
Vance and I both grew up in Appalachia. Despite this, we came to very different conclusions about how the world should work. Vance, according to his book, is a bootstraps ideology kind of guy. I think that line of reasoning is harmful and unrealistic and is complicated by facets of identity like race and gender.
It is, however, the kind of thinking that wins him favor among Republican voters.
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It was possible that Trump could have picked a moderate to appeal to the most people. Instead, he went with someone whose ideology complements his own.
The Republican Party ticket is concerning. Without someone willing to push back on Trump, I fear that he will abuse his power and send us back to the turmoil of his first presidency.
Together, Vance and Trump make a powerful team – two sides of the same MAGA coin. Picking Vance could be a good choice for appealing to younger voters; it could also be bad for our country.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vance's age makes him the right Trump VP pick in this old guy election
