Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) future is looking bright after Tuesday’s vice presidential debate.
Not only is he being lauded for his performance, he’s also being viewed as a contender for 2028, per The Hill.
“This is exactly what he needed to do for his own political future. He’ll certainly be happy with the short-term implications to the extent those matter, but the long-term implications are real,” a Senate GOP aide said.
“People have kind of been viewing him as a drag on the ticket. There was resentment among a large amount of the party’s factions just because a lot of people were opposed to him being picked in the first place. They felt like they were being proven right,” the aide said.
“This really resets a lot of that for him and now people have a very good feeling about him and it buys him a tremendous amount of goodwill, but it also just puts him in a place of real strength,” the aide added.
If former president Donald Trump wins in November, he is only eligible to serve one term since he has already served one term. And the Republican presidential nominee has already said he will not run again if he loses the White House.
That means the GOP needs to look for their next leading candidates. That’s where Vance can come in.
However, prior to the debate, the 40-year-old had been criticized for past statements, such as Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating pets and referring to some women, like Vice President Kamala Harris, as “childless cat ladies” who “don’t really have a direct stake” in the country’s future.
That changed for the Ohio senator Tuesday as he
reminded political watchers why he was chosen as a potential heir for the MAGA movement.
Many post-debate polls showed Vance was the winner of the showdown by a slight margin.
His favorability rating also increased.
“A lot of people, even the ones that probably don’t agree with him on a lot of issues, they can see a future commander in chief on the debate stage now,” the aide said.
“From the JD Vance, ‘How does he come off as a person’ perspective — that bar was still super low for him because all the stories that people see about him is, ‘This is not a good guy. He’s weird. He’s abnormal. He believes crazy things. This is a boogeyman,’” the aide said. “On stage, I think they saw something completely different. … I think there’s a big gap between what people had in their minds perception wise versus what they got on stage and I think that has a significant impact when it’s that kind of surprise factor.”
His debate performance on Tuesday was nothing new for his Senate GOP colleagues. Many of these colleagues have called him smart, articulate and well-prepared — especially when debates are concerned.
Sen. John Thune (S.D.), a leading candidate to become Senate GOP leader next year, said he was pleased Vance was doing media interviews and talking with reporters while campaigning.
He also impressed Trump while on the debate stage in the Ohio GOP primary in 2022.
It also helps with fundraising.
“It redefined him to the money guys,” a GOP operative said. “He came across as a serious guy who won a VP debate, and some of the money guys who rolled their eyes at him now think, ‘Hey this guy has some game.’”
“He came away a lot more substantive than many of the donors had realized. … Before last night could you have envisioned JD Vance on a stage with Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Glenn Youngkin? Eh maybe,” the operative said. “After last night, it’s clear he belongs. … A lot of those guys don’t want to see JD on that stage.”
But for the moment, Vance’s future vision is focused on the weeks leading to Nov. 5.
“The only thing Senator Vance is thinking about is making sure we put President Donald J. Trump back in the White House. We have less than 35 days left in this election and there is absolutely nothing that will distract us from that goal,” Will Martin, a Vance spokesperson, said in a statement. “If we come up short this November, what happens in 2028 won’t matter because this country will be beyond saving.”
Trump also lauded Vance after the debate, saying, “It just reconfirmed my choice.”
