JD Vance steps into the limelight at Republican Convention

JD Vance, Donald Trump's running mate, made his national political debut on Wednesday with a primetime speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC).

The freshman senator from Ohio officially accepted Donald Trump's offer and the Republican Party's nomination to run for vice president and urged voters to "choose a new path."

"The people who govern this country have failed and failed again," he said.

Trump and Vance will face the Democratic ticket of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 election.

Vance contrasts Biden and Trump

Vance's autobiographical speech was the first time many Americans heard from him. 

"I grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands and loved their God, their family, their community and their country with their whole hearts," Vance told Republicans gathered at the party convention.

"But it was also a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by America's ruling class in Washington," he said. 

"Career politicians" like President Joe Biden, Vance said, were responsible for trade policies and foreign wars that hurt communities like his.

Vance cited Biden's support of NAFTA, China's entry into the World Trade Organization, and the Iraq war as examples of poor judgment on the president's part. 

"For half a century he's been a champion of every single policy initiative to make America weaker and poorer," he said.

Trump reversed those negative trends in four years and could do more in four more years, Vance said, sparking chants of "four more years."

Vance leans on his background to relate to Americans

Vance discussed trade, foreign policy and the drug epidemic, as well as Trump's policies for addressing them, but he spent most of the speech recounting his own experiences.

"Never in my wildest imagination could I have believed that I'd be standing here tonight," he told the crowd.

In recent years, Vance has shifted from being a harsh critic of the former president to becoming a staunch defender.

"To the people of Middletown, Ohio, and all the forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and every corner of our nation, I promise you this," he said. "I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from."

In a video released Wednesday by President Biden's reelection campaign, Harris dismissed Vance as someone Trump "knew would be a rubber stamp for his extreme agenda."

"Make no mistake, JD Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our country," Harris said in a video.

Vance would be the third-youngest US vice president if elected to the office.

According to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, conducted before Trump selected Vance as his vice-presidential choice, 6 in 10 Americans don't know enough about Vance to form an opinion.

About 2 in 10 US adults have a favorable view of him, and 22% view him negatively. Among Republicans, 61% don't know enough to have an opinion of Vance.

lo/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters)