J.D. Vance has substance, and if anyone doubts him being Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, let them not worry anymore. J.D. has proven he can hold his own.

People can see that J.D. can handle himself and is not afraid of the media. Donald Trump is no slouch when it comes to being in front of the camera, although he could use some more finesse. Maybe. But Trump, being Trump, is what his base loves about him. It’s what got him elected in the first place.

However, the vibe is that Trump’s abrasive language has worn a little thin lately, even with the people on the right. They don’t like the way he says certain things or whatever.

Political pundits are probably starting to swirl now with hopes of Donald Trump getting to policy talk and allowing Vance to be the attack dog. With Vance’s flair for the charming and eloquent jabs towards Harris and now Walz, yes, let’s let him take care of that sort of business. We should get Trump back on policy talk.

For example, when I first saw this on social media yesterday, I knew immediately that Vance must keep this up. He swaggered to where Kamala’s plane landed to talk to her press. Since clearly, she wasn’t going to do it.

I thought the reporters traveling with Kamala might be a little lonely given that she never answers questions from them, so I figured I’d come say hello and check out my new plane while I was at it. https://t.co/OPEh0UKBDc

— JD Vance (@JDVance) August 7, 2024

The media ping-pong that Republicans and Democrats have been playing these last few days has been marvelous.

First, we had one of the most exciting and hopeful Republican conventions of my lifetime.

Then, Kamala steals the show by being named and installed as the Democratic Presidential candidate.

Next, Trump sits in front of the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention in Chicago to take questions, all kinds of nasty questions.

Soon after, Kamala names her running mate Tim Walz, putting the spotlight (but not the microphone) back on her.

And like a boss, J.D. Vance lands in Wisconsin, struts over to Kamala’s gaggle of media, and steals the scene. Yes!

Vice presidential running mates are frequently deployed as attack dogs on the campaign trail, allowing the top of the ticket to remain presidential and above the fray. Republicans have especially had a long history with this, from Spiro Agnew to Sarah Palin.

Although a former president, Trump has seldom backed down from playing offense in order to appear presidential. Trump didn’t seem to need any help in this area, nor did the mild-mannered Hillbilly Elegy author he tapped as running mate initially seem best equipped to play the attacker role.

When Trump questioned how long Harris had identified as black while speaking to a conference of black journalists, Vance framed it as a broader attack on her authenticity amid a growing list of policy flip-flops. – The Washington Examiner

Maybe Kamala should be studying these videos where Vance takes questions from the press. Is Kamala too scared to face the media? It seems so since she has been avoiding them like the plague. Maybe she is afraid she will forget her media training and revert to speaking her senseless word salads.

J.D. Vance possesses quick wit and substance. He can get scrappy with the press, be an attack dog for Trump, and talk policy. He’s the whole package. He has charisma and levity while still drilling down on important issues.

Yes, please put more of J.D. in front of the press.

Sparring with the press has also been a Republican tradition dating back at least to Agnew. Vance didn’t disappoint there, either. When told he is normally angry and asked what makes him happy, Vance shot back, “Well, I smile at a lot of things, including bogus questions from the media, man.”

Vance has been reminding reporters that Harris did not fall out of a coconut tree but President Joe Biden’s White House. “She said that she would be our border czar, and yet, for 3 1/2 years, we have an open border,” he told reporters. “She said that she would bring some common sense and lower inflation to our economic policies, and yet, she cast the deciding vote that raised interest rates, raised home prices, and raised food prices.”

The freshman Ohio senator’s dogged pursuit of Harris makes another statement, reminding voters that Trump has been president while Biden’s vice president hasn’t been elected to the office — at least not yet. – The Washington Examiner

How long can Kamala and Walz ignore the media? The actual press, not the controlled legacy, videotaped interviews, or scheduling yourself to go on another episode of Drew Barrymore.

You know it has to get under Kamala’s skin when J.D. keeps calling her out for hiding from the public. But maybe she is trying to hide from the media because she doesn’t want to answer why she picked such a far-left radical nut job who has no problem with the mutilation of children to be her running mate. Or maybe it’s how no one actually voted for her to be the candidate in the first place.

Kamala Harris would not want to face the media for all kinds of reasons. It looks like she’ll be copying the Joe Biden Basement Campaign.

Feature Image: J.D. Vance/Flickr/Gage Skidmore/License CC BY-SA 2.0/cropped