The Unbearable Fraudulence of J.D. Vance

Even in a party with no shortage of heels, the Senate nominee’s slide from sympathetic storyteller to shameless sycophant is especially repugnant.

There’s an old Washington saying that whenever a senator looks in the mirror, they see a president. If it’s true, then a good chunk of Senate Republicans seem hell-bent on rerunning their last president’s playbook — say and do as much silly shit as possible and see what sticks — all the way to the White House. Between Rand Paul’s incessant feud with Dr. Anthony Fauci over COVID-19 precautions, Tom Cotton’s authoritarian musings about showing “no quarter” to protestors, and Ted Cruz’ ongoing obsession with bringing children’s books into the Capitol, it’s difficult to stand out as a particularly irritating member of the upper chamber’s GOP caucus.

Difficult, but in this land of opportunity, not impossible. And assuming he can secure a general election win this November (hardly a heavy lift in a red Ohio), newly minted GOP nominee J.D. Vance just might become the most contemptible member of the lot.

It isn’t because Vance is a pro-Trump Republican. It’s not because he’s a former Trump critic who later accepted an endorsement from the former president. And it’s not because he’s a wealthy…