JD Vance’s Legislative Record Is a Masterclass in Failing Up
Plus: Democrats are starting to exhale after Biden’s departure.
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance has charged the presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, with being a phony and flip-flopper. Excuse my candor, but that’s a bit rich.
Vance’s own rapid evolution from Never-Trump conservative intellectual to Ever-Trump attack dog is a matter of public record; his rhetoric these days is vastly different from the way he discussed ideas and issues before running for Senate. It can be hard to get a clear sense of the ideology and motivations of a person who has changed this much this quickly. But to better understand his way of thinking about public office, I combed through the legislation he sponsored during his brief stint so far as a U.S. senator. While Vance doesn’t have a very distinguished record (not that we should expect much of a back-bencher in the minority party), it does help explain his meteoric rise.
For starters, Vance’s legislative record reflects someone who has only a small amount of political experience. It also illustrates the degree to which he has never left the campaign trail: His work on Capitol Hill can be read as an audition for the bottom half of the 2024 ticket.