The third night at the Republican National Convention was a big one. Not only did it have some profound emotional moments, like the recognition of the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families, a speech by a World War II veteran, and a plea for the release of hostages being held by Hamas, the convention got to hear directly from Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, J.D. Vance.

Many people are familiar with J.D. Vance from his bestselling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which was made into a movie in 2020. As a matter of fact, there is some serious angst that people are watching the movie and buying the book in order to familiarize themselves with Vance’s story. For those who don’t know, Vance’s parents divorced when he was young, his mother battled a drug addiction, and he was largely raised by his grandparents, with special credit to his grandmother “Mamaw.” J.D. Vance has told his story many times for many years since the publication of his memoir. This interview from 2017 with Megyn Kelly is deeply revealing.

Watching this video now – seven years later – feels like seeing a prediction about the future. As we all know now, J.D. Vance did indeed go into Ohio politics, and ended up winning a rather insanely contentious Senate primary with Donald Trump’s endorsement in 2022.

And then Donald Trump chose J.D. Vance to be his running mate, and announced that decision last Monday. Last night, Vance gave the keynote address of the evening, in order to introduce himself officially to the voting public, and to formally accept the nomination for vice president.

But before we heard from J.D. Vance, we got an introduction to him from his wife, Usha. A fellow Yale Law School graduate and former Supreme Court clerk, and also a mother of three, Usha Vance gave her first official speech as well.

Future Second Lady Usha Vance: "Neither J.D. nor I expected to find ourselves in this position — but it's hard to imagine a more powerful example of the American Dream."

FULL REMARKS: pic.twitter.com/JJgdJbem0H

— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) July 18, 2024

“I met J.D. in law school when he was fresh out of Ohio State which he attended with the support of the GI Bill,” Usha Vance said. “We were friends first because, I mean, who wouldn’t want to be friends with J.D.? He was then, as now, the most interesting person I knew — a working class guy who had overcome childhood traumas that I could barely fathom to end up at Yale Law School. A tough Marine who had served in Iraq, but whose idea of a good time was playing with puppies and watching the movie Babe.”

Usha Vance described her husband as the “most determined person I knew with one overriding ambition to become a husband and a father and to build the kind of tight knit family that he had longed for as a child.”

Usha Vance explained that her upbringing was very different than that of her husband but he “approached our differences with curiosity and enthusiasm.”

With that graceful and charming introduction that didn’t try to do too much, J.D. Vance stepped forward to accept the nomination and deliver the keynote address, which can be watched in full here:

Vance said at the beginning of his speech, “Tonight is a night of hope,” and the way he most powerfully illustrated that was his emphasis on his family. Not only did he echo his wife’s comments about building a close-knit family, one of his most relatable lines of the night addressed his very young children directly, who were, as he noted, not present at the convention, but back at the hotel.

“Daddy loves you, but get your butts in bed, it’s 10 o’clock.”

Every single parent listening felt that sentence on a visceral level. Also, because his family stories are so well known, he tossed a few into the speech about his Mamaw, which drew cheers and laughs. But one of the best moments of the speech was Vance’s reveal that his mother was at the convention, and not only was she there sitting next to Speaker Mike Johnson, but that she has been sober for nearly ten years now. (In a follow-up moment, Vance suggested that they officially celebrate her ten years of sobriety next January at the White House.)

"I love you mom."

"That's my boy." pic.twitter.com/xQjHUiCwmS

— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) July 18, 2024

The story of J.D. Vance’s mother Beverly is a story of hope that they have all personally lived through. The other thing that J.D. Vance has lived through? Joe Biden’s entire political career. Vance is turning 40 next month. Joe Biden was already in the Senate before J.D. Vance was even born.

Never in my wildest imagination would I have believed that I could be standing here tonight.

I grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands, and loved their God, family, community, and country with their whole hearts.

But it… pic.twitter.com/GogFo9ZbMp

— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) July 18, 2024

The full quote reads:

Never in my wildest imagination would I have believed that I could be standing here tonight.

I grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands, and loved their God, family, community, and country with their whole hearts.

But it was also a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by America’s ruling class in Washington.

When I was in the fourth grade, a career politician by the name of Joe Biden supported NAFTA, a bad trade deal that sent countless good American manufacturing jobs to Mexico.

When I was a sophomore in high school, a career politician by the name of Joe Biden gave China a sweetheart trade deal that destroyed even more good middle class jobs.

And when I was a senior in high school, Joe Biden supported the disastrous invasion of Iraq.

And at each step of the way, in small towns like mine in Ohio, or next door in Pennsylvania, or in Michigan and other states across our country, jobs were sent overseas, and children were sent to war.

Somehow, a real estate developer from New York by the name of Donald Trump was right on all of these issues while Joe Biden was wrong.

Donald Trump knew, even then, that we needed leaders who would put AMERICA FIRST.

Vance is Trump’s appeal to the Rust Belt, and Vance knows it.

“This moment is not about me,” Vance said. “It’s about the auto worker in Michigan, wondering why out of touch politicians are destroying their jobs. It’s about the factory worker in Wisconsin, who makes things with their hands and is proud of American craftsmanship. It’s about the energy worker in Pennsylvania and Ohio, who doesn’t understand why Joe Biden is willing to buy energy from tinpot dictators across the world when he can buy it from his own citizens, right here in his own country.”

Vance is a contradiction of youth and experience, two things which generally don’t go together. His life story, already laid out before the American public, is one of hope. He joined the Republican call for unity, but focused on how the Biden policies have made life harder for everyday Americans. His speech set the table for Donald Trump’s upcoming speech, something which he has already said he re-wrote after the assassination attempt. Trump’s speech will be his first public speech since last Saturday. With Joe Biden now “self-isolating” in Delaware after announcing that he tested positive for Covid, the day belongs to Donald Trump – and if the speech strikes the right tone, the election could belong to him, too.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click