J.D. Vance and the Reindustrialization of America

Naming J.D. Vance as his Vice-Presidential running mate shows that Donald J. Trump is serious about the reindustrialization of America.

Vance brings many strengths to the ticket, but the author of ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ understands full well the crippling results of off shoring our industry. He grew up in what he describes as “an Ohio steel town that has been hemorrhaging jobs and hope for as long as I can remember.” Vance is intimately familiar with the plight of the industry-poor Rust Belt. He knows first-hand how decades of shipping our industrial capacity overseas have given us crushing rates of depression, despondency, substance abuse and suicide in Vance’s home state of Ohio and across the nation.

In a speech to the National Conservatism convention on July 10th, 2024, Vance said that “Military power is downstream from industrial power.” He went on to say that "The dumbest of all possible foreign policy solutions and answers for our country is that we should let China make all of our stuff and we should fight a war with China." He compared our current military supply chains to letting Nazi Germany build our weapons during WWII, saying, “Even they (the libertarians and market fundamentalists) acknowledge that you can’t have unlimited free trade with countries that hate you. It’d be the equivalent of allowing the Nazi Germans in 1942 to make all of our ships and missiles. People recognize that that era has come to a close.” He condemned the “Wall Street Journal editorial page approach” of insisting “we could indefinitely send munitions and weapons of war to Ukraine after, for the past two generations, advocating that we ship our industrial base overseas. It’s sort of the perfect encapsulation of the dumbest way to govern our country—let’s send our entire machinery for making war to countries that hate us and then let’s spend what little stockpiles that we have on a war that has no obvious end in sight.”

These are hardly the words of a man who’ll oppose Trump’s plans to revitalize our industrial base.

On immigration, Vance stated that “the real threat to American democracy is certainly not Donald Trump. It’s not even some foreign dictator who doesn’t like America or our values. The real threat to American democracy is that American voters keep on voting for less immigration and our politicians keep on rewarding us with more. That is the threat to American democracy…The thing on immigration is that no one can avoid that it has made our societies poor, less safe, less prosperous, and less advanced.” He then tied the rising cost of housing to immigration, saying “the places in our own communities, and our own states that have the highest immigration rates are the places with the highest home prices.”

Again, not the words of someone who’ll push back against Trump’s plans to deport illegals and secure the border. In fact, the entire 20-minute speech—which I highly recommend to you—is staunchly pro-Trump, pro-America First and pro-MAGA. It’s almost like he knew he was on the short list for Trump’s VP, or something….

The media have been quick to point out that Vance was once something less than a fan of Trump. In 2016, he often derided Trump’s candidacy and policies. However, his views have changed since that time, so much so that Trump endorsed Vance in his 2020 Senate race. As President Trump himself said, “Yeah, he said some bad things about me, but that was before he knew me, and then he fell in love. “

No one is more upfront about his conversion than Vance himself. Again, during his National Conservatism speech, Vance stated that “The reason I’m most optimistic about the future of this movement and the future of our country is because, for the first time in a very long time, it is clear that the leader of the Republican Party is not some donor who is desperate for cheap labor, and it’s not some random person who claims to speak for this or that constituency. The leader of the Republican party is a guy who actually plans to put American citizens first—and that’s Donald Trump.”

Now, Trump has tapped J.D. Vance to be his running mate and hopefully, our next Vice President. Making the announcement of Truth Social, President Trump said the following:

“After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio. J.D. honorably served our Country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal, and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association. J.D.’s book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” became a Major Best Seller and Movie, as it championed the hardworking men and women of our Country. J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond….

“….As Vice President, J.D. will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Congratulations to Senator J.D. Vance, his wife, Usha, who also graduated from Yale Law School, and their three beautiful children. MAGA2024!”

It’s cliche to say that a politician “came from humble roots” and “is a self-made man,” but in Vance’s case it’s actually the truth. His mother was an addict, and a significant turning point in his life was when his grandmother took him in and became his primary caregiver. He joined the Marines and served six years, including a tour in Iraq, then attended Ohio State followed by Yale Law school. He worked for Peter Thiel's venture capital firm, Mithril Capital, in Silicon Valley between 2016 and 2017 before returning to Ohio. In 2022 he was elected to the Senate, where he currently serves.

At 39, Vance will be one of the youngest VPs ever, and will be at the head of the line to succeed Trump in 2028. His popularity in his home state is a direct challenge to Joe Biden not just in Ohio, but in the entire Rust Belt and in the “Blue Wall” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Vance’s appeal to working class voters only reinforces Trump’s own appeal to that demographic. His Silicon Valley and Big Tech ties, in conjunction with Elon Musk’s endorsement of Trump and Gavin Newsom’s disastrous economy, may even force the Dems to work to defend California.

Trump’s last-minute decision about his running mate bothered some, but I suspect a large part of it was due to Trump not wanting to repeat a past mistake (Judas Pence), and also the large number of quality candidates from which he could choose. Unlike the Dems, whose bench is shallow, narrow, short and rotten—really more of an upside-down bucket than a proper bench—Trump had numerous excellent people to consider for the ticket.

With J.D. Vance now the Republican nominee for Vice President, we can expect him to speak more about Trump’s pro-growth, pro-America First agenda: peace, prosperity, security, economic growth, and freedom. Against this, the Democrats will be pushing demented old Joe Biden, cackling Kamala Harris and their record: wars, impoverishment, inflation, insecurity, economic decline and loss of our basic freedoms.

Is it any wonder the Democrats are nervous?

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Vance’s speech at the National Conservatism conference, July 10, 2024 may be viewed at https://youtu.be/yXH1p8_jhc8?si=PB7cA9-QKDS9qXr8