J.D. Vance sweet-talks rural Pennsylvania voters at the RNC

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Republican U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, the first millennial vice presidential nominee, could strengthen former President Donald Trump’s appeal in rural and deindustrialization regions.

WHYY News politics reporter Carmen Russell-Sluchansky is in Milwaukee covering the Republican National Convention this week. He joined “Morning Edition” host Jennifer Lynn to discuss the latest developments and to consider whether Trump’s running mate from rust-belt Ohio can drum up support from rust-belt Pennsylvania.

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Jennifer Lynn: Republicans have heard from J.D. Vance. Were there any messages for Pennsylvania voters when he spoke at the RNC on Wednesday?

Carmen Russell-Sluchansky: Yeah, you could say his speech last night kind of mirrored his book “Hillbilly Elegy,” with some additions. It was at times personal, but he connected his own story to the political events of the last few decades, and he blamed political leaders in Washington, like President Biden, for losses in manufacturing and other jobs in places like Pennsylvania. Here he is talking about one of Pennsylvania’s biggest industries:

Vice presidential nominee, Republican U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance: 

“It’s about the energy worker in Pennsylvania and Ohio who doesn’t understand why Joe Biden is willing to buy energy from tin-pot dictators across the world when he could buy it from his own citizens right here in our own country.”

CR: So Vance actually mentioned Pennsylvania six times in the course of his 35-minute speech, and it’s being reported that he’s going to be practically stationed here over the course of the rest of the campaign, so it is pretty clear that the campaign thinks that Vance can help get Trump those 19 electoral votes.

JL: Do you think these comments resonated with Pennsylvania delegates? Do they think that Vance will help Trump in Pennsylvania, where they are very close?

CR: I asked members of the delegation and, not surprisingly, his comments were pretty well received. For example, I talked with Tom Carroll from Bethlehem, known for the remnants of the old Bethlehem Steel factory that kind of stands as something of a memorial to the area’s manufacturing past. Carroll hopes that Vance will actually pick up some Democrats in his area.

Tom Carroll from Bethlehem:

“They’re old blue dog Democrats and they haven’t switched their party, but they don’t like what the Democrat Party is doing. And I think those are the very people in large numbers, largely Catholic, largely former unions, ethnic groups from all over Europe that came to build this country and still live in the valley, and they’ll turn to him.”

JL: OK, so it appears polling will be freshened up soon in this campaign season. Can we count on intel from that to help us understand how much of an impact Vance’s selection may have?

CR: You’re right, I’m sure we’ll get some new indicators coming out soon. In the meantime, I talked to a couple of experts in the area, two political consultants, who both mostly work on Republican campaigns but who gave me different answers to these questions. Ray Zaborney, of Red Mavericks Media, told me that most people vote for the president, not the vice president, but he added that Vance is a good choice overall for this purpose. I’m quoting him now:

Ray Zaborney, Red Mavericks Media

“White working-class voters can relate and in the suburbs he’s a guy who can talk about his conversion on Trump — something many of them are potentially doing themselves.”

CR: But Sam Chen of the Liddel group sees Vance as being more of a reliable MAGA Republican — a populist — and he doesn’t think Vance really helps Trump in the state.

Sam Chen of The Liddel Group: 

“I don’t know that the Republicans that have won in the areas like the Lehigh Valley and the collar counties are these populist republicans; and then in Central Pennsylvania, that’s just going to be a conservative area. Republicans are going to win those seats regardless of what brand of the party they’re in.”

JL: So it sounds like we’ll have to wait and see, but Trump is white, Vance is white. What appeals do they need to make to engage people of color in Pennsylvania?

CR: That’s a good question. Trump has talked a big game about trying to attract Black voters here in Pennsylvania, but then he picks someone a lot like himself. Again, we don’t have polling on what voters in Pennsylvania think of Vance yet, but I can’t imagine there’s going to be much of an appeal there — maybe his talk about trying to bring jobs back to these states like Pennsylvania and so forth. However Black unemployment in our state is actually at one of its lowest right now. According to the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute, the Black unemployment rate in Pennsylvania is about 5.7% compared to when Biden took office, when it was around 16.5%.

JL: Now that we are into our fourth and final day of the convention, it would seem surprising to me that no one has made a reference to Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who was convicted of bribery this week. Has anyone mentioned him?

CR:  Actually, last night Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz made a joke about it. Here’s what he told the audience:

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida:

“Under Biden-Harris, inflation has gotten so bad, you can no longer bribe Democrat senators with cash alone. You have to use gold bars just so the bribes hold value.” 

Follow WHYY News for the latest updates from the RNC and the 2024 election.