J.D. Vance & Trump: What Explains Ohio Senator’s Turnaround?

I’ll admit: I’ve long had a soft spot for J. D. Vance. I found the book that catapulted him into fame, Hillbilly Elegy, to be a stirring wake-up call to the societal tornadoes ripping through Appalachia. I consider his July 4, 2016, piece in the Atlantic, “Opioid of the Masses,” the best diagnosis of the Trump phenomenon written to this day. And no one has more succinctly pinpointed a description so fit for the former president than “cultural heroin.” As an Ohioan, I also felt that Vance represented the very best of the state’s blue-collar, hard-nosed ethos. Had 2016 (or even 2019) J. D. Vance been elected senator, he would have been my favorite politician in the country.

But when I voted for Vance in the Ohio Republican Senate primary last year, I did so less out of enthusiasm for Vance than out of fear that Josh Mandel might emerge victorious. Mandel’s buffoonery on the campaign trail was embarrassing and reprehensible, and I felt especially ashamed as an Orthodox Jew who had prayed next to Mandel on several occasions. But, honestly, Vance’s complete about-face on Donald Trump was only marginally less disappointing.

About the Author

Natan Ehrenreich

Natan Ehrenreich, a recent graduate of Yeshiva University, is a writing fellow at National Review.

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I’ll admit: I’ve long had a soft spot for J. D. Vance. I found the book that catapulted him into fame, Hillbilly Elegy, to be a stirring wake-up call to the societal tornadoes ripping through Appalachia. I consider his July 4, 2016, piece in the Atlantic, “Opioid of the Masses,” the best diagnosis of the Trump phenomenon written to this day. And no one has more succinctly pinpointed a description so fit for the former president than “cultural heroin.” As an Ohioan, I also felt that Vance represented the very best of the state’s blue-collar, hard-nosed ethos. Had 2016 (or even 2019) J. D. Vance been elected senator, he would have been my favorite politician in the country.

But when I voted for Vance in the Ohio Republican Senate primary last year, I did so less out of enthusiasm for Vance than out of fear that Josh Mandel might emerge victorious. Mandel’s buffoonery on the campaign trail was embarrassing and reprehensible, and I felt especially ashamed as an Orthodox Jew who had prayed next to Mandel on several occasions. But, honestly, Vance’s complete about-face on Donald Trump was only marginally less disappointing.