The One and Only VP Debate

Vice Presidential picks need three moments to go right for them.

The announcement of their selection has to roll smoothly, and the candidate has to be introduced to America. This is the mechanical part, and Vance’s was clumsy and weird.

They need to help the national ticket in some dimension: either securing an ideological faction, providing gravitas to a younger candidate (LBJ for Kennedy and Dick Cheney for George W. Bush fall into this category), or helping move a swing state. Those who fail in these roles typically find themselves in the dustbin of political history. Vance has cost Trump support in Ohio.

Finally, the VP candidate has to perform at a reasonable level in their debates. As we’re down to just one VP debate this season, it’s all on the line for J.D. Vance (R-Ashley Furniture Warehouse) as his rollout, presentation, and political impact on the Trump ticket has landed somewhere between ludicrous and disastrous.

Vance is that bad.