DALLAS — Vice President JD Vance leaned on his family and the memory of Charlie Kirk to shore up support among young men and independents, the very voters Republicans need to win over before November’s 2026 midterm elections.
Polls show voters have soured on the Trump administration amid the six-month-old Iran war, rising gas prices, and inflation keeping the cost of living high. Vance did not run away from the issues during his keynote address at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas on Thursday, but chose instead to recognize it.
“I know there are a lot of people who are watching on TV who aren’t always sold, and I want to speak directly to them — not to the faithful, but to the people who are still making up their minds,” Vance said.
“The people on the margins, the people who are still a little unsure who they’re going to vote for, people who love some of our policies but maybe don’t agree with others, young men, many of whom felt inspired by Charlie Kirk,” Vance continued. “But are unhappy with some of what has happened in the wake of his death, and I want to speak directly to that group because I think Charlie is a great example of how to disagree, but still participate in the work of saving this country.”
The vice president urged those voters to “not throw the baby out with the bathwater” by voting for Democrats in November.
“Don’t give the country over to a bunch of crazy people because you happen to disagree with us on a policy issue here and there,” Vance said. “I’m not asking anybody to agree on every single policy of the administration. What I am asking you to do is to recognize the contrast with the radicals and recognize the achievements of the last 18 months.”
Vance, speaking with female Republicans standing behind him waving American flags, played up the contrast between Republicans and the Democratic Party’s insurgent socialist wing.
“They’re not just a party of a little higher taxes, maybe some dumb regulations. They’re not the party of FDR or JFK. Hell, they’re not even the party of Bill Clinton anymore,” Vance said. “The Democrats are the party of hatred. They’re the party that despises America and the people who built it.”
The crowd cheered and applauded Vance, even interrupting the speech multiple times with chants of “USA” and “48” — a reference to Vance succeeding Trump as the 48th president of the United States.
“Can we please? We got to take care of business this November,” Vance responded to the “48” chants. “Then we’ll worry about what comes next.”
The crowd’s enthusiasm highlighted Vance’s popularity over another potential 2028 rival, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Multiple attendees at the convention were nonchalant about Cruz’s ambition to run for the White House again.
Prior to Vance’s address, Florida Republican congressional nominee Scott Singer told the Washington Examiner he hoped “to hear more touting of the success that the Trump-Vance administration and the Republican leadership has delivered for Americans.”
“There have been so many successes, and people need to hear that,” Singer said.
Vance did that, underscoring, among other accomplishments, Trump’s America First manufacturing agenda and steps addressing the opioid epidemic.
At the same time, he launched attacks at Senate Democratic nominees James Talarico of Texas and Abdul el Sayed of Michigan.
Vance’s address coincides with increasing momentum behind him as Trump’s heir presumptive, including the president reportedly polling people less on the topic of whether they prefer the vice president or Secretary of State Marco Rubio to become the 2028 presidential nominee.
At the convention this week in Dallas, Vance’s appearances on projectors around the American Airlines Center received applause.
He was also the guest of honor at a sideline convention breakfast for his home state of Ohio, co-hosted with the neighboring presidential battleground states of Michigan and Pennsylvania, in addition to raising $2 million with sideline convention fundraisers.
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) told the Washington Examiner that Vance is the Republican Party’s “clear front-runner” for 2028.
“I think that Vice President Vance is the clear front-runner,” Gill said. “He is a huge leader of the party right now, and he’s done a phenomenal job supporting the president and making the case to the American people that what the president has been doing both domestically with economic policy, with the border, but also in many instances with foreign policy, makes a lot of sense.”
“So I’d love to see Vice President Vance at the top of the ticket,” he added.
But as Vance’s political stock appears to be on the rise, there remains a lack of commitment to the vice president from the Republican base regarding becoming the party’s 2028 standard-bearer.
Richard Van Winkle, a 69-year-old barrister from Flower Mound, Texas, for example, was not ready to embrace a 2028 run by the vice president, pointing to how he does not think he knows him.
“I don’t know where Vance is at yet,” Van Winkle told the Washington Examiner. “I’m not sure where he stands, 100%.”
“You don’t know about politicians,” he said. “Trump’s going to do what Trump says. Some of these others, when they get in that position, there’s a lot of pushback. And there’s a lot of deep things in politics that I don’t know how strong Vance is. I think Rubio would stand strong.”
Simultaneously, some Republicans seem to be withholding judgment until there is guidance from Trump, who is likely to decide his successor with his endorsement.
JD VANCE FACES BIG PRIMETIME MOMENT AT GOP MIDTERM CONVENTION AS TED CRUZ WAITS IN THE WINGS
“Donald Trump, you know, he doesn’t broadcast everything that he’s gonna do,” convention attendee Casey Myers, 49, of New Jersey told the Washington Examiner. “I don’t really have a strong opinion on where it might go personally, maybe he’ll get another, maybe he’ll get another run.”
Adisa Hargett-Robinson contributed to this report.