Trump secures his legacy with Vance VP pick, Republicans say

MILWAUKEE — Anticipation around former President Donald Trump tapping Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his vice presidential nominee not only concerned the next four months before the 2024 election and the next four years, should he and Vance win in November.

But Trump's decision on Monday, announced during the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, could also define the GOP for the four or eight years after that should Vance become the party's prohibitive favorite in 2028.

In tapping Vance, 39, the youngest vice presidential candidate since eventual President Richard Nixon, Trump has provided his " Make America Great Again " movement and America First policy platform with an opportunity to continue after his second and last term instead of picking a more centrist, compromise candidate as an appeal to more establishment Republicans.

Trump, a legacy-minded real estate mogul and marketing expert who rose to national prominence before The Apprentice TV series because of his branded buildings, has anointed an heir apparent in tapping Vance, according to Republican strategist Cesar Conda.

Conda, who has known Vance since 2015 and the role of the vice presidency for longer as an aide to former Vice President Dick Cheney, predicted that Trump tapping Vance means the Republican Party "could have a more populist, working-class agenda domestically and a more cautious one internationally" for years to come.

"Vance’s modest upbringing and service as a U.S. Marine will strengthen the GOP's support among working-class communities while at the same time connecting with suburban voters because of his stellar academic background," Conda told the Washington Examiner.

"As vice president, he will have the unique viewpoint of a politician who will be youthful and experienced as both a Marine and a Yale -educated lawyer and a bestselling author," he said of Vance's 2016 Hillbilly Elegy. "J.D. Vance’s story is a true American success story of a man who came from poverty to become the likely next vice president of the United States."

Republican strategist Dennis Lennox underscored that Trump tapping Vance is about "one thing and one thing only" — "solidifying Trump's political legacy."

"This is a passing of the torch," Lennox told the Washington Examiner. "J.D. Vance has become the heir apparent to succeed Trump as leader of the populist, national-conservatism movement that has dominated the Republican Party for the last nine years."

"If Trump and Vance win in November, we can also call the 2028 race for the Republican nomination," he said. "It's inconceivable that a Vice President Vance as President Trump's heir apparent wouldn't clear the field of any potential opponents. There would be no path for any other Republican to defeat him."

Although that may concern other Republicans with presidential aspirations, including Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and Rep. Bryon Donalds (R-FL), who all addressed the convention on Monday night, another Republican strategist, Ford O'Connell, who worked on the 2008 campaign of the late Arizona Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, agreed Vance is a "rising star within the party" who "compliments" Trump.

"J.D. Vance is the future of the Republican Party, who understands the struggles of working Americans, particularly those the forgotten men and women of the Midwest," O'Connell told the Washington Examiner.

Moments after Trump announced Vance as his vice presidential nominee on social media on Monday, the freshman senator, who was only elected in 2022, was introduced to the convention at Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum by Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno , himself in a competitive race against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Vance appeared to become emotional during Moreno's speech as delegates started writing the lawmaker's name on their Trump signs in Sharpie.

"J.D. Vance, I think, brings a lot to the ticket, who's someone who really can articulate exceedingly well Donald Trump's plan for the future of this country," Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) told the Washington Examiner on the floor. "He also, because of his life story, I think, could relate to the average Ohioan and the average person in this country."

During an Ohio delegation breakfast an hour from downtown in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Ohio state Attorney General David Yost reminded the Washington Examiner that Trump is term-limited, "so having somebody that's going to continue on that work is critical." Yost, who described Vance as a "young," "energetic," "home run, grand slam, brilliant, thrilling choice," concurred it is "conventional wisdom" that the senator would be a front-runner to become the 2028 presidential nominee.

"You got to see what happens over the next four years and how they conduct themselves, and with Gov. [Doug] Burgum , you’ve got to look at health. He’s much older than J.D. is," he told the Washington Examiner of the North Dakota governor. "One of the benefits of J.D. is that we have that continuity."

Vance, Burgum, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) were reportedly Trump's top three contenders for vice president, with the latter two advised of the former president's decision in separate phone calls on Monday afternoon.

More immediately, regardless of Trump's decision drawing ire from more centrist Republicans who, for example, may have voted for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley during the primary or who want the U.S. to keep supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia , other members of the GOP, such as Michigan delegate-at-large state Rep. Angela Rigas, praised Trump for tapping Vance, citing the interest the senator generates in the Republican ticket.

Rigas, who represents a district in southwest Michigan, emphasized how Ohio's Vance could help Trump in her Rust Belt state, a must-win battleground for President Joe Biden as part of the so-called "blue wall" the former president cracked in 2016.

"Biden is facing so many challenges from his own party right now," Rigas told the Washington Examiner. "I know Democrats in Michigan are worried about Biden at the top because that does affect downballot. ... Democrats are throwing Hail Marys because they don't think they're going to make it through this election cycle, and me and my colleagues are definitely going to make sure that they don't."

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"[Trump] was able to inspire the working class, a lot of the working classes that hadn't previously voted," she said. "Whomever will be our next Republican president after Trump serves this next term, which I feel that he will win, these Republicans are in it now. ... That's what Trump brought to the party. The party was able to move away from the status quo and the reputation of being the party of the rich and middle-aged white men. That's not the case anymore. This party has broadened."

Vance will deliver remarks at the convention on Wednesday night.