FAIRFIELD, OHIO — Although the president Donald Trump He is Democrats’ biggest enemy, and some of the party’s most ambitious leaders are increasingly looking beyond him and to the vice president J.D. Vance.
In the latest example, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear traveled to Vance County, Ohio, where he said Saturday night that the vice president had abandoned the communities he wrote about in the memoir that made him famous.
“Hillbilly Elegy,” which details Vance’s difficult upbringing, “trafficked with tired stereotypes,” Bashir said.
“His book ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ was actually intense hate,” the governor said at a Butler County Democratic Party fundraiser. “It’s poverty tourism, because it’s not Appalachia.”
The attack was not only a sign of Beshear’s potential presidential aspirations, but a reflection of Vance’s status as the Republican heir apparent to the coalition that twice elected Trump to the White House.
“With every passing day, we are getting closer to a day when Donald Trump is no longer president,” said Democratic strategist Liz Smith. “And we must prepare for that day.” “Right now, J.D. Vance is the favorite for the 2028 nomination. And so we have to start defining him — not in 2027, not in 2028 — but today.”
Vance spokesman Taylor Van Kirk dismissed Beshear’s criticism as coming from a flawed messenger.
“Every time Andy Beshear attacks the Vice President to try to get publicity for himself, he ends up getting hurt Humiliated himself in the processBut maybe that’s the thing he cares about? She said.
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California was among the first Democrats to start focusing on Vance last year. Khanna stopped at the Cleveland City Club and Yale University, where he and Vance studied law, and gave speeches that attempted to paint Vance as more extreme than Trump.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, another potential 2028 presidential contender, singled out Vance in November while making the argument that the Trump administration doesn’t care about workers.
“At least with Donald Trump, he’s being transparent about it,” Shapiro said. “J.D. Vance is a total fake.”
Some Democrats have rallied around California Governor Gavin Newsom as a strong candidate because of his aggressive strategy in going after Republicans.
He coined the nickname “J.D. ‘Just Dance’ Vance” on social media, and mocked the vice president’s appearance, saying Vance “grew a beard and lost his spine.”
Every line of Vance’s criticism is an audition, said Smith, a strategist who led Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign and still works for Biden’s former transportation secretary.
“There’s certainly value in taking on Vance to show Democrats that I can be on the debate field against him,” Smith said.
Born and raised in Middletown in Butler County, Vice President rose to prominence with his publishing “Hillbilly Elegy” in 2016. The book earned Vance a reputation as someone who could help explain Trump’s appeal in middle America, especially among working-class, rural white voters who helped Trump win the presidency.
Vance carried this reputation to the US Senate, winning the 2022 election, and then to the position of Vice President. This same backdrop is likely to be central to any future presidential election — and is precisely what Democrats are now working to undermine.
At a Democratic Party fundraiser on Saturday, the mere mention of Vance’s name sparked a wave of boos from the audience.
“I don’t think he has the charm that everyone sees with Trump,” said Teresa Vacheresi, a retired doctor and business owner who attended the event. “I think when Trump is gone, the Democrats might have a chance. God, I hope so.”
The focus on Vance is not unusual for a vice president widely viewed as a potential future running mate, especially if he is 41 years old. Republicans hounded Kamala Harris early in her term under President Joe Biden to undermine her political future.
Vice presidents can be vulnerable, said Jamaal Simmons, Harris’ communications director for 2022 and 2023.
“The party was created to defend the president more than to defend the vice president,” he said. “The vice president is out there alone to fend for himself and find friends wherever they can.”
Republicans, including Vance, have often linked Harris to some of the most politically difficult issues for a Democratic administration, such as immigration and border security.
“The vice presidency is a very mixed blessing,” said David Axelrod, who was a senior adviser to Democratic President Barack Obama. “A lot of times you don’t own the president’s assets, but you inherit all of the president’s record. The good, the bad and the ugly.”
Beshear is the rare Democrat leading a red state, and he presents himself as someone who can reach voters who have not followed his party.
He said Democrats could “actually go and win back those voters that J.D. Vance is giving up” if they stay focused on them. Basic needs of Americans Such as affordable health care and public safety.
“We have to start talking to people, not to them,” he said. “This is how I won counties in eastern Kentucky that normally vote Republican by a large margin — including Breathitt County. This is the county that J.D. Vance pretends to belong to. Donald Trump won it by 59 points. I won it by 22 points the year before.”
The audience seemed pleased with Bashir’s message.
“I think it’s top notch,” said Mark Kaplan, who lives in Butler County. “What he has is compassion, empathy, charisma and intellect, but he is also humble.”
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Cappelletti reported from Washington.