Ticket balancing is a fundamental axiom of electioneering. It’s a strategic practice where a political candidate selects a running mate to broaden the appeal of the ticket, not only to attract more votes but in theory, because of a desire to represent the country in all its diversity.
The practice dates to the early days of the United States. Initially, it focused on geographic balance, such as pairing a Northerner with a Southerner. Over time, the criteria expanded to include ideological, demographic, and experiential factors.
In recent times gender has also played an important role in the selection of a running mate, though choosing a woman as running mate has been rare, and until Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris, there had never been a woman from an ethnic minority of color.
Italian American Geraldine Ferraro made history as the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket when she was selected by Walter Mondale in 1984. Sarah Palin followed as John McCain’s running mate a full twenty-four years later, in 2008. More recently, Kamala Harris scored a hat trick when she became the first woman, first Black woman, and first person of South Asian descent to be elected vice president in 2020, running with Joe Biden.
Axiomatic it may be to follow the practice of ticket balancing, but Donald Trump has boldly rejected it and has picked Senator J. D. Vance, a younger and less charismatic version of himself, a forty-year-old white man. What does Vance have to offer?
A Marine Corps veteran and author of the bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” he brings a mix of youth and celebrity status (but not enough to compete with the notoriously narcistic Trump) that appeals to conservative voters. Despite being a former critic of Trump, Vance has become a strong supporter, aligning with Trump’s “America First” policies. Additionally, Vance’s background and focus on issues affecting American workers and farmers resonate with key voter demographics in swing states—a must-have swathe if Trump is to win the election.
Arguably, Trump’s choice is also something of a dog whistle to his more conservative supporters, a way of dismissing minorities (especially of color) and asserting the primacy not only of the white race, but specifically of white MEN.
While Trump has never explicitly said that he supports white nationalism or white supremacy, over the years he has repeatedly used dog whistles to stoke white supremacists who believe that white people are inherently superior, and white nationalists, who implicitly wish to return to an America that was hegemonically white.
In the infamous, deadly, Charlottesville, Virginia “Unite the Right” rally on Aug. 12, 2017, white nationalists protesting the decision to remove a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee chanted “You Will Not Replace Us.”
The slogan is a reference to the popular white supremacist belief that the white race is in danger of extinction by a rising tide of non-Whites and Jews.
After Charlottesville, it took two days, an avalanche of criticism and much arm twisting by his advisers to get Trump to issue a condemnation of the violence that had occurred. Finally, he released a statement that said, “Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”
So far, so good, but unfortunately, he then went off script and blamed both sides, adding, “I think there is blame on both sides…You had some very bad people in that group. You also had some very fine people on both sides”.
At times, he has even overtly defended white supremacists. His meetings with notorious racists Kanye West and Nick Fuentes come to mind. His position as President gave a bigger platform to hate-based movements and invigorated them.
The opportunities for Trump to pick a minority VP candidate were there. Numerous women appeared to be on the short list: Elise Stefanik, Kristi Noem, Tulsi Gabbard, and even ally-turned-rival-turned-ally-again Nikki Haley. Among the men, Marco Rubio, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott represented ethnic minorities, the first a Latino and the latter two of color.
None of these ended up being the Chosen One. Trump settled on a white man. Perhaps it is because he needs to win Vance’s state of Ohio? Or because of Vance’s strong appeal to the working class?
Maybe it’s all of the above, but the last time that America saw an all-white, all-male ticket was in 2004, when the Democrats fielded John Kerry for President and John Edwards for Vice President, while the Republicans offered up George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for Vice President. That was a generation ago and the America of today, in all its diversity, bears little resemblance to it.
Trump’s pick is a powerful, though covert, message about his style of governance, his values and ideals, and his political imperatives.
