At the Debate, JD Vance Put a Lifetime of Spin to Use

Mr. Vance sanded down Donald Trump’s edges the way he often sharpens attacks for rally crowds — picking the facts that can deliver the most impact and discarding the rest.

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Senator JD Vance of Ohio during his vice-presidential debate with Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota in New York on Tuesday.

The debilitating self-doubt that nagged JD Vance as he graduated from high school was replaced with a thrilling new confidence that he discovered in the Marines when he thrived in one particular role: performing for the TV cameras as a media relations officer.

Mr. Vance flourished at building relationships with reporters and learning to stay on message. His work spinning for one of the largest military bases on the East Coast, as he wrote in his memoir, earned him a commendation.

This week, on the biggest stage of his life, Mr. Vance used the techniques acquired in the military to spin some of the core issues of the Republican presidential ticket with a level of skill and shamelessness few in his party have pulled off.

In his 90-plus minutes on the vice-presidential debate stage, Mr. Vance, 40, delivered a performance that gave Donald J. Trump’s words and plans an intellectual and emotional dimension and revealed himself to be a more complicated figure than the caricature portrayed by his critics.

Mr. Vance, a senator from Ohio, fleshed out his ticket’s populism in a way Mr. Trump has never been willing or able to do. Advisers said it was part of a planned debate strategy to win over viewers by appearing thoughtful and empathetic. But the question remains whether Mr. Vance has laid the cornerstone for a new foundation of Trumpism, or his vision is merely a mirage.

In some ways, Mr. Vance has simply rolled a smooth veneer over the harshness of his party’s unpopular positions without addressing the underlying policies that Americans find problematic.

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