Dem
51
GOP
49
We don't mean to keep beating a dead horse, but J.D. Vance's debut on the national stage continues to go very poorly.
There is a well-worn observation about The Simpsons, that the show's vast archive of past content (close to 400 hours) has something for every occasion. For example, the episode where Lisa Simpson envisions herself as the nation's first female president:
By the way, she becomes president by replacing... Donald Trump.
It would seem there is a corollary phenomenon, where, no matter the occasion, J.D. Vance has said something offensive about it. The greatest American hero of the Olympic games so far (and yes, believe it or not, she looks like she's walking on air) is probably the gymnast Simone Biles. Her successes in Paris this year represent something of a redemption story, because she was compelled to withdraw from most of her events in Tokyo due to the gymnast's version of the yips (she lost her sense of space, and so could not safely perform her acrobatics). Vance, who thinks he is the only person on the planet who has ever worked hard, was highly critical of Biles' decision: "I think it reflects pretty poorly on our sort of therapeutic society that we try to praise people, not for moments of strength... but for their weakest moments." Yes, the last thing the U.S. wants to be is a country that supports people when they're down.
And even if past J.D. Vance were a saint, present J.D. Vance still has plenty of baggage. For example, it was reported yesterday that he has a six-figure investment in Rumble. Rumble is YouTube for right-wingers who don't like YouTube's terms of service. Consequently, Rumble is absolutely chock full of white supremacist and neo-Nazi content. Can you imagine what would happen if it was discovered that, say, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) had a six-figure investment in such a site?
And if someone is willing to give him a pass on the Rumble investment, figuring that it's not Vance who is creating the content, there's also this. Alt-right pundits Jack Posobiec, Joshua Lisec, and Steve Bannon have a new book out called Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them). It is a book that celebrates the brutal regimes of people like Augusto Pinochet and Francisco Franco, and says that the "lessons" of those regimes can be applied usefully to the present-day United States.
You get three guesses as to which U.S. Senator loves the book, and the first two don't count. That's right; here's Vance's blurb from the cover of the book:
In the past, communists marched in the streets waving red flags. Today, they march through HR [Human Resources], college campuses, and courtrooms to wage lawfare against good, honest people. In Unhumans, Jack Posobiec and Joshua Lisec reveal their plans and show us what to do to fight back.
One reviewer writes: "[Unhuman] is perhaps the most paranoid, hateful, and terrifying book I have ever picked up. (I say this as someone who has read Mein Kampf.)"
Thanks to the constant supply of dirty laundry, Vance's approval numbers continue to crater. He's currently at 28% favorable, 44% unfavorable, which means he's 16 points underwater. Trump insiders have also begun to turn against him; Kellyanne Conway is reportedly mounting a vigorous campaign to get him removed from the ticket. In response, the Trump campaign is about to send Vance out on a massive, dayslong media blitz. We'll see if this saves Vance's bacon, or if it proves to be his last stand. (Z)