Let’s Slow Down the JD Vance Bandwagon a Bit
Within the ranks of the Republican party, JD Vance 2028 is all the rage.
Just three days before the new year, CNN pollster Harry Enten pointed to prediction market odds, which revealed Vance had a 48% chance of securing the Republican nomination in 2028. Marco Rubio was next at 12%, and no one else was even given a 5% chance. Enten went on to reference New Hampshire, where Vance was given an even more impressive 51% chance of winning the nation’s first primary. Nikki Haley was second with 9%.
Couple this with President Trump’s tacit endorsement of Vance on several occasions, where Trump seemed to promote a Vance/Rubio ticket, and you get the feeling it’s game, set and match for the Republican side already, right?
In the famous words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friend.”
How will Vance React to Leftist Intimidation?
If there is one pervasive characteristic of the woke leftist movement, it’s their willingness to use bullying, threats, intimidation and violence to achieve their authoritarian agenda. Every day, they fill social media with these kinds of posts:
They are mad, bro.
Woke leftist anger is always directed primarily at those who stand in their way, and that means the person at the top gets the worst of it, and if history proves anything, it’s that most Republicans cave when confronted with such pressure.
So, how would JD Vance react if woke leftists dig up something from his past that is actionable? Did he lie on a mortgage or student loan application? Is he on record supporting a Trump policy leftists decided was illegal that could be litigated in a kangaroo court? Whatever legal vulnerability Vance has, you can bet the left will discover and exploit it. Does Vance have the financial resources to stand up to such scrutiny? More importantly, does he have the backbone to endure the overwhelming attacks from the left’s propaganda media operation?
A Lack of Substance
Quick, what was JD Vance’s biggest accomplishment while he was in Congress?
That’s right, you can’t name one because there wasn’t one. In fact, Vance didn’t author a single bill during his brief stint in the Senate. His most notable achievement was co-sponsoring the Laken Riley Act.
Prior to his election to the Senate in 2023, Vance never held public office. So, for the most part, we have to rely on his words because there really are no deeds. The words are presented with extraordinary persuasion, and Vance has an astute sense of the moment and cutting through leftist crap propaganda. But the question remains: does he really mean it, or will he capitulate at the first sign of trouble?
Questions About Vance’s Convenient Conservatism
The truth is, we know very little about JD Vance prior to his meteoric rise in Republican politics. We do know he was highly critical of President Trump, once calling Trump “an idiot,” wondered if Trump was “America’s Hitler” and claimed he was a “‘Never Trump’ guy.”
To his credit, Vance deftly sidestepped his earlier criticisms of Trump by doing a complete mea culpa and showing his belly, claiming that he’d seen the light and had undergone a divinely inspired complete conversion. Apparently, it’s been enough to convince Trump, and to be fair, Vance has been a fierce advocate for Trump policies, but doubts remain.
A 2024 leaked dossier by journalist Ken Klippenstein provided more questions than answers about Vance’s shifting core philosophies. For example, Klippenstein claims Vance opposed the 2017 Trump tax cuts and supported higher taxes on capital gains, businesses and people without children. Vance was also critical of corporations and free-market principles, while supporting Obamacare and opposing the border wall.
Could Vance be Another Mitt McCain?
For too long, Republican voters were duped into voting for candidates who talked tough during primary elections, but then sunk into the Deep State morass once they were elected. Both George Bush Sr. and Jr. fit the mold, hardly distinguishable from their Democrat successors. As soon as leftists turned up the heat, both Bush’s caved instantly. It’s fair to imagine that if John McCain or Mitt Romney had been elected, they would have suffered a similar fate.
The truth is that for most Republicans, the threats from the left are enough to keep them in line. It’s why Republicans who defy the Deep State go to prison while Democrats who commit serious crimes never see the inside of a courtroom.
Donald Trump has always been an outlier. He has the resources, the backbone and the fortitude to stand up to violent, psychotic leftists but still remain true to his principles.
Imagine JD Vance under the same kind of onslaught Trump has faced since 2016. How do you think he would handle such vicious and relentless assaults?
The problem is that no one really knows.
There is Only One Republican with the Battle Scars to Prove It
In a potentially crowded field of Republicans, there is only one name that stands out as a true America First advocate who has taken the left’s best shots and emerged victorious. One Republican who can’t be intimidated, bullied or cowed into compromise out of fear.
Ron DeSantis.
Remember, DeSantis has a history of taking on leftists on their destructive core issues, including keeping Florida open during Covid when there was enormous pressure from the left to shut the state down like the rest of the lemming governors did.
DeSantis has been a staunch advocate for securing the borders, and he despite severe threats from the left, relocated illegal aliens to sanctuary states like New York and Illinois.
The Florida governor restricted discussions of race and racism in classrooms, banned Critical Race Theory, and limited the introduction of gender identity and sexual orientation until later grades. DeSantis moved to restrict gender mutilation of young children, blocked vaccine mandates for workers, tightened rules for mail-in ballots and restricted ESG investment strategies.
I could go on, but you get the idea. DeSantis has a heavyweight America First resume. It’s not an endorsement per se, but a warning that we better look closely for candidates who walked the walk as opposed to just talking the talk.
America can’t afford to be duped in 2028. Before you hop on the JD Vance bandwagon, remember, words are meaningless. It’s the candidates past actions that predict what they will do in the future. Without a track record, words are just a crap shoot.
