David Frum said he knew Vance and worked with him about a decade ago. His impression was Vance was setting himself up to run for president sometime around the 2030s.
Back then Vances opinions were totally different though. He was far more moderate and focused on policy, while now hes an authoritarian race baiter. Frum considers it just Vance doing whatever he has to do to win votes from the GOP base.
Many who knew the early Vance ponder the question: What happened to him?
I don’t overthink that question; the answer seems obvious enough. I ponder something else.
The anti-populist conservative Vance persona of 2010–17 was well designed to please the individuals and constituencies that held power over his future at that juncture in his career. The angry-white-male persona of 2017–22 was as perfectly aimed at the Thiel-Trump-Tucker nexus as the earlier iteration had been to the Allen-Aspen-Atlantic one.
If Vance wins the senate race in 2022, he will try to climb the ladder and run for president probably in 28 or 32.