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Vice President JD Vance took center stage at the Republican convention in Dallas on Thursday in a speech seen as an early test of his 2028 White House prospects, offering a message of nationalistic pride that resonated with the pro-Trump \u200bcrowd.<\/strong><\/p>\n As party leaders grapple with slipping approval ratings and uncertainty over November\u2019s midterm elections, they are also looking for signs of who might eventually carry President Donald Trump\u2019s movement forward.<\/p>\n Trump, who followed \u200cVance to the stage with closing remarks, offered little commentary on his vice president\u2019s high-profile appearance, instead imploring supporters to vote Republican on November 3, the stated purpose of the first-of-its-kind midterm convention.<\/p>\n The president has yet to signal who he would back in 2028, though Republicans frequently speculate about whether Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio is best positioned to lead the party after he leaves office.<\/p>\n With Trump constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, Vance is widely regarded as a leading contender for the nomination. He spoke of an \u201cAmerican \u200bbirthright\u201d to safety and prosperity that he said Democrats opposed.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t give the country over to a bunch of crazy people because you happen to disagree with us on a policy issue here and there,\u201d Vance said, \u200breinforcing a convention theme that cast Republicans as the party of common sense and Democrats as the party of \u201ccrazy.\u201d<\/p>\n Vance\u2019s 40-minute speech stayed largely on script, unlike Trump\u2019s free-wheeling \u2060speaking style, and at times resembled a presidential nominating convention speech.<\/p>\n But in one apparently spontaneous moment, a protester waved a Mexican flag, prompting Vance to respond, \u201cWell, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there,\u201d \u200btriggering a loud round of applause and chants of \u201cUSA, USA, USA.\u201d<\/p>\n Vance then offered to buy the man a plane ticket.<\/p>\n Supporters cited the 42-year-old\u2019s youth and appeal to grassroots activists as reasons he is well positioned to advance the party\u2019s populist, \u200banti-establishment agenda once Trump leaves the political stage.<\/p>\n Some in the crowd chanted \u201c48, 48,\u201d suggesting Vance could become the country\u2019s 48th president in 2028, but Vance said Republicans first needed to concentrate on winning the November midterm elections.<\/p>\n Before Vance took the stage, Republicans used the convention to portray Democrats as dangerous extremists ahead of November\u2019s midterm elections, with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas accusing them, without substantiation, of being part of a \u201cnew and dangerous red-green alliance\u201d between communists and Islamists.<\/p>\n Throughout the two-day gathering, speakers sought to energize Republican voters \u200bby focusing on immigration, crime and cultural issues \u2013 frequently attacking Muslim politicians \u2013 as the party confronts questions about its future beyond Trump.<\/p>\n Listing what he considered the ills of life under Democratic President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025, Vance \u200bsaid, \u201cWe were tired of being called racist for noticing that our country was becoming dirtier and poorer and less safe and less prosperous.\u201d<\/p>\n There was less emphasis on issues that voters tell pollsters they are most concerned about such as the economy, especially inflation \u200cand the cost \u2060of living, and the U.S. war on Iran.<\/p>\n Kyndra Yamaguchi, a board director of the Tea Party faction in Montgomery County, Texas, said the convention was accomplishing its goal of energizing Republican voters. Even if Thursday\u2019s program was supposed to showcase Vance, the visual cues inside the 20,000-seat arena pointed overwhelmingly to Trump.<\/p>\n Oversized photos of Trump lined the walls, including the image of him raising his fist after an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a towering floor-to-ceiling poster showing him standing before massive steel coils at a factory.<\/p>\n Ahead of Vance\u2019s speech, attendees packed the floor and filled the arena\u2019s middle tiers, though the upper \u200bsections remained largely empty, much as they had the \u200bnight before.<\/p>\n A Marine veteran and Yale Law School \u2060graduate, Vance first gained national prominence through his memoir \u201cHillbilly Elegy,\u201d which recounted his upbringing in a working-class community battered by industrial decline and his family\u2019s struggles with poverty and addiction.<\/p>\n Trent Morgan, 29, a party chair in Newton County, Texas, said he likes Vance as one of the party\u2019s strongest communicators. But he does not want Trump or the Republican \u200bParty to choose the 2028 nominee before voters get a say.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the great thing about primaries, us as voters get to decide,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cIt\u2019s not good for \u200ba party to play kingmaker.\u201d<\/p>\n Robert Greeley, \u2060a Texas Republican attending the convention, said he wants Vance to be more willing to distance himself from people he believes are undermining the Trump administration, even if they are longtime allies. Vance has said political allies could disagree and remain friends.<\/p>\n \u201cI know he\u2019s trying to turn the temperature down,\u201d Greeley said. \u201cIt\u2019s way past that time.\u201d<\/p>\n When Trump followed Vance to the stage, he first promised to be brief after having spoken for two hours the night before and saying, \u201cI don\u2019t feel like going over \u2060the same material \u200bagain.\u201d<\/p>\n But in his 25-minute speech he soon reverted to the speaking style he has employed at political rallies over the years, reciting a \u200blist of perceived grievances against the news media and his political opponents, unverified stories and exaggerations interspersed with occasional verifiable statements.<\/p>\n At one point he implored the crowd to repeat his words, which included referring to himself as \u201cthe greatest president in the history of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump made a \u200bfinal plea for election turnout, telling supporters they would \u201cgo to hell\u201d if they did not vote in November.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nFUTURE BEYOND TRUMP<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u201cIt stirs the base, which I think it\u2019s really needed right now, especially here in Texas,\u201d Yamaguchi said.<\/p>\n\u2018HILLBILLY ELEGY\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n