J.D. Vance Beloved by Delegates at RNC

The biggest announcement at this week’s RNC came Monday afternoon when former President Trump announced on Truth Social that he had chosen Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate. The news has been received almost unanimously well by Trump’s core base – the delegates at the RNC – with many of them saying they find Vance’s working-class background both relatable and electorally helpful in the Rust Belt. 

“Growing up in a hardscrabble area and the values that come from that, I think that’s what we need in a VP,” alternate delegate Donald McDonough told RealClearPolitics. “The country needs to bring that back in order to build a foundation and be effective,” he continued.

The themes of growing up in a poor, working-class family were the main motifs of Vance’s VP nomination acceptance speech Wednesday night. His speech was full of stories about his memories growing up in rural Ohio, including some about his grandmother, “Mamaw,” and his mom, whom he said would soon be “10 years clean and sober.”

“I grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands, and loved their God, their family, their community, and their country with their whole hearts. But it was also a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by America’s ruling class in Washington,” he told the delegates.

Vance also used his background to criticize Biden, specifically regarding his view that free trade policy had taken many American jobs. “When I was in the fourth grade, a career politician by the name of Joe Biden supported NAFTA, a bad trade deal that sent countless good jobs to Mexico. When I was a sophomore in high school, that same career politician named Joe Biden gave China a sweetheart trade deal that destroyed even more good American middle-class manufacturing jobs,” Vance continued.

Many delegates said they liked this perspective, telling RCP that Vance’s working-class appeal will help the Trump-Vance ticket in the critical Rust Belt swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. “I think he could definitely help Trump out with the vote, especially in the Midwest and the Rust Belt,” said Jack Wrenn, one of the UNC-Chapel Hill “frat guys” who held up the American flag during protests earlier this year as pro-Palestinian protesters tried to raise the Palestinian flag.

The delegates also said they thought choosing Vance as VP was a strong statement from President Trump about the state of the race. Ohio delegate Jim Brennan said that a more moderate pick like Nikki Haley, although she wasn’t in serious consideration, would have indicated that Trump was less sure of his election chances and would need someone more moderate to bring in extra votes. “I believe that’s where we maybe were a month ago,” Brennan said, but now, “clearly this Trump pick indicates that the Trump campaign feels they are on pretty good footing.”

Brennan also talked about how Vance’s youth made him a “home run” pick, especially among his children. “My three kids really are energized by J.D. Any other pick, they would’ve been ‘eh, okay, I get it,’ but Vance brings the youth thing,” Brennan said. Vance used his youth in his VP acceptance speech to highlight Biden’s age: “Joe Biden has been a politician in Washington for longer than I’ve been alive. I’m 39 years old.”

Some of the delegates floated other names that they thought Trump was going to choose as VP, such as Mike Flynn, Sarah Palin, and Tim Scott. However, every one of the 10 delegates RCP spoke to said they supported Trump’s decision, all agreeing that Vance was a solid choice.

Recently, another large conservative conference for grassroots activists held by Turning Point Action in Detroit, “The People’s Convention,” also had J.D. Vance as the favorite for VP in their 1,986-person straw poll. However, in betting markets, Doug Burgum was the favorite at the time, with J.D. Vance having only a 17% chance according to PredictIt betting odds on June 19, while Burgum was around 30%.

Vance being chosen as V.P. also indicated to some of the delegates that Trump was looking for a successor. Delegate from Colorado Kaarl Hoopes said his top priority for a V.P. was to have someone who could succeed Trump: “The VP, number one, needs to be someone who could take over for President Trump, if God forbid something were to happen to him before his next term ends or, more likely, to succeed him in 2028.” Hoopes told RCP that he thinks Vance would “absolutely” be a good candidate in 2028.