112 Comments

May beat Obama's 2-step, 4-year method...

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Yeah, it used to be that senators and governors were expected to win re-election once before running for President, like Hillary (elected to Senate in 2000) waited until 2008. But she ran into Obama who was only 4 years into his only term in the Senate.

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Only 3 years: Jan 2005-early 2008.

It does bother me a little that Vance changed jobs every couple of years.

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Vance doesn't appear to have too much high-level executive experience. De Santis is only in his mid-40s, but has six years as governor of a huge state as well as several terms in the House of Representatives.

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I think this is all for the best, especially if Trump wins. DeSantis gets a few more years to cultivate the apparatchiks that will lead to a more effective regime, but it will also give him some competition since despite it all, he still comes off as an insufferable dweeb. Vance gets a shot at the big time, and has the opportunity to come in motivated and show some guts to the nation, since he is clearly intelligent.

I am not sure who else people want, but this leaves the GOP in the best shape to not have debates on a de facto empty stage like the dem's rogue's gallery of 2020 and the pathetic GOP options of 2016 (and 2012 etc.).

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The idea of Vance writing the inspiring words and DeSantis reading the fine prints in the legislation and regulations sounds promising for a future administration when these two still young men could somehow hopefully team up.

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DeSantis ran a really bad presidential campaign. I don't think being the guy would really be his strong suit, he's a natural governor.

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Desantis has come up in a state where both ag and wildland conservation still hold some sway in comparison to urbanists. So although I don't know that he cares deeply about these most important conservative issues, seeming like he's probably more the sort of government-nerd who likes to debate Fox News-like about "our freedoms" in the abstract, or in connection with barn doors open and closed long ago, legislatively speaking - still, he has probably not been radicalized in the far wrong direction.

I'm not ready to give up on him.

I couldn't care less at this point about guys that project tall and smooth and affable and upper class. They've been a disappointment.

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Hands off my Guv at least until his second term ends

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It’s a bold pick. Trump making no effort to appease “moderates,” and also establishes an heir apparent who will only be 43 in 2028.

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JDV turns 40 next month and so will be 44 in 2028

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Loved his book. Seems decent, honest and smart. I don’t doubt that he will represent the interests of the forgotten middle class and be a positive force towards fixing our broken borders.

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So delighted. Trump realized he wanted an ideological legacy and to change the GOP away from invade the world invite the world. Best way to do it.

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"Invite the world" ... what do you mean, invite them to behave decently or invite them to migrate to the US in large numbers

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Invade the world, invite the world, in hoc to the world is a famous Sailerism. It refers to mass immigration.

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I felt like I saw the neocon movement finally start to die yesterday - and I was delighted.

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The Hillbilly Apprentice. By far the best pick. He understands many parts of American life from rural Appalachia, to the military, to Yale Law school "elites". Young with a bright future. Most importantly, he has great taste in the Twitter accounts he follows ;)

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When did Vance begin to follow right-wing social-media accounts? It's an interesting choice that he'd do so at all, given that he is a U.S. Senator. It's hard to know what it means.

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I was pretty active on twitter in 2020 and he was following and commenting with a lot of those accounts back then.

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JD is super smart and more accomplished than the current VP. He also isn't a plagiarist like our current president and actually knows how to read a balance sheet like our former president. Won't overshadow Trump but won't back down when challenged either. Not sure if he gives Trump anything electorial or from an activist perspective like Pence did with evangelicals.

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I’m so used to be disappointed, by politics in general and by Trump among all the others. But this felt good. The first time I felt “the wind at my back” in a long long time. The possibility that all the right leaning dissident ideas I’ve been reading ever since I discovered American Conservative in late 2002 might really have a way into the mainstream of our society. Not just with Trump and all his flubs and misses. But long term. Could it really be possible the US will someday soon have a future President who reads Steve Sailer in the privacy of his home?

I’m still worried about Trump being weak with the squishy suburban female vote, and I’m pretty sure JD doesn’t help much. But maybe his wife helps a little.

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Well said and I couldn't agree more

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Surpringly enough, I’ll admit I don’t know enough about him to have an opinion. And won’t have one until I do.

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Apparently he follows you on Twitter...maybe he will chime in!

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When did Vance follow Steve Sailer on twitter?

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Couldn't think of a better choice.

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Flynn: he would make DJT bulletproff.

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Looking at their Wikipedia pages, it looks like he lived in SF and Ohio while his wife was clerking in DC and having 3 children.

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So does this make him a patriarchal misogynist or a modern man supportive of his wife's career?

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Is he right leaning enough?

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Leftists are upset because he opposes gay marriage (but that ship has sailed).

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"I believe that marriage is between one man and one woman, but...I'm not one of these guys who's looking to try to take people's families and rip them apart." -- J,D. Vance, quoted in July 2022 (quoted on his wiki entry);

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Revoking gay marriage going forward doesn't mean we have to tear up existing marriages. Can let them continue on until they expire and not let new gay marriages occur. Can also give them civil unions as a replacement.

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I read and liked his book and felt a considerable connection to his background. I’m kind of curious about those cheeks, though, and for photogenic reasons I’m glad Trump made peace with his beard.

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I like his take on Ukraine. If the Europeans don't step up, oh well, it's on their doorstep, not ours.

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It's notable that John Hinderaker, over at Powerline, doesn't like the pick, and mentions Vance's views on Ukraine and the Iraq war prominently. I generally find Hinderaker reasonable, but he's still hanging on to the 20th-century USA World Cop model, and in that sense I guess Vance would a be a 'disappointment' -- the very adjective Hinderaker chooses to describe the Vance pick.

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I like the Vance pick. He doesn't come from money or American nobility. He grew up dirt poor, has a fierce love for the working class people of Appalachia, and is not bound to the old guard Republican ways of thinking.

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I would love to see him succeed. I have quit identifying as Scots-Irish and started identifying as Appalachian instead.

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Loved his book which hit home, I grew up with a lot of people who came north on US23 to work in the auto plants.

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Priceless DA, "gonna catch that south bound freight and ride." Thanks!

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