JD Vance may not command headlines like Donald Trump or even Elon Musk, but he is the man to watch if you care about the long game in politics.
His vice-presidential assignments seem carefully chosen to position him with an eye toward where America is heading — a strategy that was on full display with Mr. Vance’s remarks on American global leadership in A.I. this week in Paris. He turned heads with his forceful argument that we need to move beyond looking at A.I. as a threat to be managed — the posture taken by his predecessor, Kamala Harris — toward seeing it as an engine of opportunity.
Mr. Vance talks about tech like a guy who doesn’t need kids to help him reset his Wi-Fi password. That’s saying something for a political leader in our country, and is but one facet of what sets him apart from much of the Washington gerontocracy. His remarks in Paris were a sign that one of America’s political parties has a new generation of leadership that is focused on and fluent about issues that will shape our future and not just rehashing the political battles of the past.
If the 2024 presidential election was burdened by the weight of old men fighting for their respective legacies, Mr. Trump did something actually refreshing when he chose the first millennial running mate. As a pollster, I’ve seen voters’ desire for fresh energy and ideas come from a worry that our politics are stagnant and stuck on the status quo.
Which is why I was struck this week when Mr. Trump was asked directly if he viewed Mr. Vance as his successor for 2028, and replied that he did not. He praised Mr. Vance for doing a “fantastic job” but said, in his view, it was “too early” to anoint him as the next Republican nominee.
While it is understandable that Mr. Trump is focused on the here and now, not what comes after his presidency, it is hardly too early to see the obvious. Mr. Vance is the natural inheritor of the movement Mr. Trump has built, with a keen grasp on what binds many of Mr. Trump’s supporters — especially his younger supporters — to him, both in style and in substance.