Smitten with Vance
By Jordan Musser
The 2024 election outcome could come down to the fact that everyday, middle class Americans are struggling, underrepresented, and unheard.
Trump has never been more vindicated in picking Senator J.D. Vance to be his running mate.
From Middletown, Ohio, Vance was raised by a struggling Appalachian mother who battled addiction and was often abusive. In his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, he writes about the life of poverty that formed him and how the military and higher education gave him a way out. His deep understanding of the socioeconomic factors that contributed to his challenging upbringing make him relatable as well as a mouthpiece for middle Americans.
Unlike Kamala Harris’s vice presidential pick Tim Walz, Vance doesn’t need to cosplay as a midwestern dad to connect with blue-collar voters. Vance is cut from the same cloth of those in flyover country. He also demonstrated his patriotism by his military service, spending four years in the Marine Corps that included a short non-combat deployment to Iraq.
Recently, Vance accused Walz of stolen valor after it was uncovered that he embellished his military service record and gave journalists the false impression that he served in war.
While Walz expects the public to excuse his silly proclivity to “misspeak,” the “knucklehead” that he is, Vance doesn’t need to exaggerate his resume to earn respect. Vance laid out his tough childhood and path of redemption in his book, which became a New York Times bestseller.
Vance’s appointment initially drew skepticism from some Republicans. He at first didn’t seem like a strategic vote-getter for Trump with coveted swing state demographics, and his style was different. But after the Vice Presidential Debate Tuesday, the concerns have evaporated.
Vance’s sharp, disciplined performance impressed politicos across the board and likely left many independent women impressed. Vance was convicted and charitable, approachable and genteel. His remarks were a stark juxtaposition to Kamala Harris’s disingenuousness on the debate stage weeks earlier. No amount of rehearsing and scripting could make her seem honest and reasonable, no matter how many times she repeated that she “came from a middle class family.” In fact, she is from a wealthy, well connected socialite who dated Montel Williams and ran in circles with rappers and musicians.
Harris is not the woman of the people that the media portray her as. Vance, on the other hand, is. His intelligence, eloquence, and realistic grasp of the needs of the American people in 2024 were clearly threatening to Harris’s team early on.
They immediately set out to hijack his image, doing their best to portray him as “weird.” The label stuck. Suddenly, the internet was ablaze with memes about Vance, labeling him as a chronically online extremist. The Democrats exploited Vance’s comments to make him appear inaccessible. Because of his staunch promotion of life against abortion, his calls for an end to the opioid crisis, and his pro-family orientation, Harris's campaign slandered Vance as “weird.”
A bizarre fictional story about Vance having sexual relations with furniture circulated online.
Although debunked by the X user who first tweeted out the fake story, Walz furthered its reach by alluding to it in a tweet that read, “I can’t wait to debate the guy - that is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”
Unfortunately for Walz, Vance did show up to debate. With him, he brought a polished presentation, articulate talking points, and a reasonable and likable disposition. It trounced Walz’s sweaty, stuttering, deer-in-the-headlights defensiveness. The blue-eyed duo couldn’t have appeared more different under the bright lights of the debate stage and on TV screens in homes across America. Walz was a grumpy-looking rich old white man, seeming very much like the rich old white men the Left pretends to hate. Vance was polished, with an endearing smirk that broke the 4th wall and pulled viewers into his aura of confidence. Vance’s preparedness and clear opinions were refreshing. Conservatives, once unsure of Vance’s place in this election, felt the impact of his presence.
All seem to be asking the same question: Did we just become smitten with Vance? In 2024, we are used to mealy mouthed politicians. We are used to liars, to embellishers, to defensiveness, to political grime. We are used to men who hold no firm opinions, men who lean towards the effeminate, men who flounder when challenged. We are desperate for men who behave like men. Men who hold their ground, who favor reasonableness, who stand firm when pressed and pressured. Similar to the way Trump’s post-assassination attempt “Fight! Fight! Fight!” photo struck a chord with Americans who are searching longingly for masculine men, Vance’s advocacy for America also resonated. Vance was calm and collected in the way we want men to behave in a high-pressure situation.
He identified America’s problems and their solutions on issues such as energy, the opioid crisis, and immigration. His words were reassuring, and belied an underlying strength that our White House desperately needs. The administration taking office in 2024 will need to be tough on crime, firm on immigration, and exceptionally rational and restrained in matters of foreign policy. The fate of our country will lie in the hands of men who can stand up to the preposterous progressive agenda that’s attacking our economy and culture.
The men that have the intestinal fortitude to shut off the firehose of degeneracy flowing out of our government and media are the men we need to place in office. After the debate, it’s clear which candidate, which party, is good for our nation. We knew that the Trump/Vance ticket was the one that could save our country, and thanks to Vance’s debate performance, we can cast our vote with more confidence than ever. Good days for America are coming.
Jordan Musser is a wife and mom living in Pennsylvania. She’s a former USAF Security Forces officer and now enjoys writing, lifting weights, and homeschooling her children.
