On the menu today: J. D. Vance knocked it out of the park in his convention address last night; too bad he was knocking it out of the park in the name of protectionism, populism, nationalism, industrial policy, and quasi-isolationism. But let’s pause to recognize Vance’s amazingly wide range of life experience, and note that if Vance were a Democrat, his life story is all we would be hearing about him.

Great Speech, Masterfully Delivered! I Hated It

Milwaukee — There is a good chance that J. D. Vance will be the next vice president of the United States, and a key player in a second term for Donald Trump.

A lot of people will have trouble with this distinction, but I think Vance masterfully delivered an amazing speech . . . that I did not like. Vance made the best possible pitch for a vision of the party I disagree with, using the most mainstream-friendly, warm, fuzzy language to sell an agenda of protectionism, populism, nationalism, industrial policy, and quasi-isolationism. Vance’s speech was Obama-esque in its ability to take ideas that are controversial or divisive and make them sound full of common sense.