Our most recent book is titled Divided We Stand: The 2020 Elections and American Politics. Among other things, it discusses the state of the parties. The state of the GOP is not good.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) — picked yesterday as President Trump's running-mate — could potentially extend Trumpism far into the future, leaving the White House as late as 2037 if he were to win twice on his own, Mike (in Milwaukee) and Jim write in a Behind the Curtain column.Why it matters: The freshman senator, age 39, instantly becomes the frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential race, and was by far the most aggressively Trumpy of the three finalists.
Trump loved the veepstakes drama, and milked it until hours before the Republican convention opened yesterday afternoon in Milwaukee.Trump had told friends for several days that it was Vance, and people very close to Trump have been telling us for weeks that every sign pointed to Vance. But Trump is Trump, so no one wanted to go out on a limb and guarantee Vance was the pick.
Behind the scenes: With the race's new dynamics after Saturday's assassination attempt, a secret lobbying campaign continued into yesterday morning, with Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson and tech investor David Sacks all calling Trump to try to lock in Vance.It wasn't until midday yesterday that the other two runners-up, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), got left at the altar.
Carlson, who has a prime-time speaking slot at the convention, told us the logic for Vance "is that he doesn't secretly hate Trump, as all the rest of them do. He fundamentally agrees with Trump. That's precisely why neocon donors [who want more aid for Ukraine] fear him."Vance also had the most chemistry with Trump, who got to know him after Don Jr. pushed his dad to endorse Vance for Senate in 2022. Trump has genuine affection for Vance — rare for Trump, and a real change from his reasoning for picking Mike Pence in 2016.
