In the worst Project 2025 way, Vance is Trump’s pet chameleon, but inept even at “sane-washing” MAGA extremism
Who ever thought that Mike Pence, slavish though not irredeemable, would end up among Trump’s least sinister appointments? It was early days, and Trump hadn’t yet refined his peculiar talent at picking tone-deaf nincompoops, destined losers or reckless crooks itching for jail time. At least Pence delivered evangelicals to Trump’s fold, convincing true believers to trust the unChristian quack from Queens. Okay, Pence had weird issues about lunching alone with women, but no Capitol police got their heads bashed because of this puritanical mania.
As if Trump hadn’t yet fully merged menace and malice to mendacity, along comes J.D. Vance – the latest, most conspicuous Trumpster dumpster, exposing his stunning negative learning curve (refusal to vet alongside cognitive decline). Trump’s endorsement gaffes, whether Vance or Mark Robinson or Laura Loomer, compete with willful ignorance about how honest campaigns and elections work (recall Manafort, Flynn, Navarro, Stone, Giuliani, the Pillow guy). Throw in celebrity weirdos like RFK, Jr and Tulsi Gabbard and the Trump train wreck of craven cronies continues – as if shooting yourself in the head is a good thing.
Epitome of evil intentions
In fact, nothing more dramatically exposes appalling character, judgment and citizenship than wacko close advisers, cronies, flunkeys and enablers. Of which, the VP pick wins the prize– not just for cockeyed perversity but arrogance, delusion and wishful thinking. VP wannabe Vance is far more than obedient loudmouth, he can rattle the media (with “created” lies) beyond what even the shameless Don-old would risk. Worse, as Trump’s automatic replacement after illness or mortality, let alone “rigged” prison obligations, Vance shows what DT thinks of the presidency. Capturing the deep, dark, even costly Trump underside, Vance is the matchless mouthpiece of malice. Inadvertently (unless Trump invites failure), Vance looms as a campaign killer. Kudos to Trump for landing the nastiest party piranha in the undrained pond.
Normally, VP picks are neither controversial nor critical, determinant factors, but here’s the historic, monumental blunder. Already, Vance wins the least liked VP sweepstakes, so disgusting to women and centrists he looks to drive voters to Harris. Compare Sarah Palin, quickly a joke and imprinted as John McCain’s worst senior moment. But she was oddly entertaining, with her own spunk, and didn’t get Obama elected. But as the most conspicuous public expression of the epic Trump 2024 boomerang, Vance’s repulsive image accelerates a campaign on the skids. What if Vance is so bad he also costs the GOP winnable senate seats or a fistful of House wins? What is picking Vance was truly the beginning of the end for Trump, whose age only dramatizes an increasingly enfeebled campaigner, with both spurting gaffes galore?
Vance is already a body blow to the standing of the two-time popular vote loser. What Trump self-advertises, especially how being president allegedly added to his business acumen, is executive competence – knowing what he is doing and how to get things done. Clearly, the purposely offensive, contrarian maverick (or crude disrupter) neither cultivates charm nor being liked by the majority. In short, the phony pitch to make America well-run again.
Further, since neither policy, planning, nor issues were/are his thing, his “personal” WH “wins” (tax breaks, deregulation, tariffs, abortion and immigration noise) were standard GOP agendas that served his hollow image. Even today, his campaign has no center, no significant proposals to benefit his backers, and no vision other than badmouthing America, demonizing immigrants, slandering opponents, and lying with even more shrillness than his record-breaking, WH mendacity parade. Having picked a defensible VP in Mike Pence, with evangelical, midwest, anti-abortion supporters to buttress Don-old’s void of principles, Trump once listened to advisors who convinced him he needed an opposite VP.
Ah, the good old Trump days
But by 2024, moderation was displaced by manias to wreck the entire system with anti-democratic, autocratic revenge fantasies on the way to dictatorship. As if stupidity knew no bounds, now Trump relies on his nitwit sons and extreme MAGA advisers, like Laura Loomer, to promote Vance – unvetted, not well known, not from a key purple state, and not even Trump’s buddy. Vance assured everyone he was a fierce battler who’d never disagree with MAGA Trump, take orders, and act like Trump’s worst half (and no easy task there). Mission accomplished.
But Trump erred badly to think the country shared his disruption-loving extremism, nor that Vance improved his chances. Instead of a positive, Vance is a walking-talking-lying gift to the Democrats, and arguably more tone-deaf than his mafia boss. Any idiot knows the GOP’s most devastating problem was abortion bans, with secular, urban women, and all those reactive to blatant misogyny. So of course Vance went hog-wild without nuance, with indefensible cheap shots — all in all, making a bloody exhibition of himself. At least Trump’s vicious barrages come with sneering charisma, reinforcing the primitivism and prejudice of his macho base (men and women). But what constituency did Vance win over by distorting abortion issues (with confusion over a national ban) or slamming single and married women without children — but with cats?
Vance has pushed beyond tone-dead and as a campaigner into brain-dead territory. That he fabricates with even more manic energy and frequency than Trump (a near impossibility) has won him the prize for driving away right-leaning voters. That violates all modern records, from H. W. Bush to Quayle, Gore, Cheney or Biden. Even Palin, however magnificently ignorant and unfit, did not cost McCain the downsides Vance looks to deliver. The entire, endless Trump-Vance blundering pet-cannibal lollapalooza (crudely using immigration to deflect from abortion) has gone from bad to worse and could lose Trump thousands of otherwise supportive Ohio fans — if not single pet lovers!.
That Vance admits he “creates” stories (called lies) to focus media attention only openly exposes how Trump deceit has always worked. Now, every time unhinged Republicans plunge into their own fantasy world, reporters will challenge more boldly – confirming a party of manipulators. Instead of ballast to Trump’s greatest flaw – that he can’t stop lying or fantasizing or inventing reality, the Vance barrage of insipid distortions and malice only adds to the ever-humbled, debate-smacked Trump. That Vance is far more educated, the “rightwing intellectual” who talks in more coherent sentences, doesn’t erase that what he keeps pumping out are profound campaign downers. As with Trump, Vance is ploughing new political (highly suspect) ground – and final tabulations could devastate both campaign chances and his personal reputation.
Two campaigns – both to stay on course
That J.D.Vance is already the least admired modern VP pick reinforces in spades Trump’s blithering incompetence at governance, strategy and hiring ability. One wonders not just how much more damage Trump himself can manage before Nov., but how can he possibly repair such self-destructiveness when amplified by his careening VP pick? If as many argue Trump has reached desperation mode (already immorally blaming Jews for his upcoming loss?), what publicity options exist that will distract from bad news without compounding it.
That’s what the backfiring pet-cannibal calamity did, doubled down by both Rethugs and delivering a package gift to Harris and Walz. One side is digging a deeper hole while the other professionally runs a remarkable, inclusive campaign that only has to avoid blunders. Both sides will stay their courses. Another few weeks of Dem competence and blundering infamy by Trumpsters – and this supposedly neck and neck will turn out to be the major rout that one savvy, tested expert predicts. That outcome fits the facts and the vectors manifestly visible, with no apparent way to shift or lose leverage either way.
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