Posted on 10/22/2025 4:38:34 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Ben Domenech has a very interesting take on Vice President Vance in an essay on The Transom.
[T]he truth is: They hate him because they view him as a traitor to their class, after they welcomed him with open arms.
He recounts the rapturous response Hillbilly Elegy received upon publication and the instant celebrity conferred upon Vance, in so small part because it satisfied a need of “people on the center left trying to make some sense of (or offer some dismissive explanation for) the Trump phenomenon.”
Vance went all-in (something he has done as Trump’s number two as well):
He went on Charlie Rose to call himself as a “a Never Trump guy,” wrote a piece for the The New York Times calling Trump “unfit” for the presidency, and joined Terry Gross on NPR to call Trump “noxious” and warn that he “is leading the white working class to a very dark place.” He even did the most humiliating thing you could do at that time in that position, which was cast a vote in 2016 for Evan McMullin. He’d proven which side he was on.
Domenech understands the potent social and economic lucre such a debut implies:
For someone without a sense of principle or political reality, all this would go to your head. You have the opportunity to be at the top echelon of elite voices, rake in the money on the speaking tours, and be a voice of constant Christian moralizing against the racist bigots from whence you came who just don’t know what’s good for them. Who would turn it down?
But as we all can see, Vance didn’t go for the immediate reward at hand. He saw Trump’s first term unfold and changed his mind about what works. Not just in public, but as someone drawn to politics.
The left hates this. They think insults matter more than policy, and that if you couldn’t stomach Trump’s tweets, it definitely makes you a hypocrite to say he’s doing good things, too. And deep down, they know Vance is really quite good at it. The vice president has an even better understanding of the elite world he had briefly navigated. Seeing its weak points fueled an even greater talent at making the case for the Trumpian policies he now supports. Today you’ll oftentimes find him arguing the case with those same media entities and figures who once welcomed him into the fold. His talent makes the shift all the more frustrating. So does his beard.
I have a longstanding belief that former lefties make for effective conservatives. They know the enemy, and they know why it is wrong. The late David Horowitz stands as a powerful example of someone who understood the evil the left does and effectively worked against it. The son of party member capital C Communists, he turned against the left when he experienced the ruthlessness of the Black Panthers, who murdered his friend because she knew too much. He got it: the Left is a racket.
I’ve known many other reformed leftist conservatives because I am one and we can usually spot each other.
I take it as a powerful sign that Vance went to Yale Law School, where he heard plenty of progressive political rhetoric, and when he got out into the real world, he saw that the theories didn’t work too well in practice. And he had the courage to admit he was wrong and and change his way of thinking, not to mention professional and social circles, and seek to help frustrate the aims of the world of the progressive intellectual, that he briefly inhabited.
Domenech concludes:
So when the left rails against Vance, understand that they do so from a position of deeply felt personal betrayal.
And the Left is now virtually feminized, as Helen Andrews reminds us, with consequent amplification of the impact of emotional betrayal.
The left loved Trump too, when they thought he was a democRAT.
The left is mentally disturbed. That is the engine driving them.
Understand good v evil, truth v lie, individual v collective, builder v destroyer, civilized v uncivilized.
He’s the creation of Peter Thiel.
True that. And the left hates Republican presidents more and more each cycle. The left hated Reagan, but how they treated Reagan was easy compared to how they treated his successor, Bush Sr. And they treated Bush Jr even harsher. Followed by Trump even worse. I cringe to think how they'll treat the next Republican president.
People who ‘pay their dues’ as democrats make stronger republicans than those born and bread. As a proud 18 year-old I proudly voted for George McGovern. It was Viet Nam-winding down but still in our heads. Got his butt kicked-teachable moment. It took 12 years to come around and vote for Reagans’ reelection. Turning 30 might have had something to do with this evolvement. No turning back.
Unlike me today’s 18-29 year-olds are veering in our direction and it’s gonna be awesome. Let’s work to keep them. No telling what AI is going to have on their status.
Perhaps young blacks should do summer internships in Africa. Give them something to do. They’ll appreciate the US more.
Vance and Trump left the plantation. The Left will never, ever forgive or forget. Women, blacks and Hispanics are known Demonrat property and are treated as such.
Trump has gotten treated the worst of all. It is constant. And he doesn’t give a flying crap what they think. He plugs ahead. And Vance doesn’t either.
Anyone who can change so easily can change right back.
Many staunch conservatives identify with this scenario. When the facts change…yada yada. That’s why we don’t call for their destruction rather their conversion.
I can’t recall a conservative reverting back to a “progressive “. RINOs switch all the time though.
He’s the creation of Peter Thiel.That is quite possible.
However, as Dr. Frankenstein discovered, sometimes creations evolve beyond their creator's control.
Excellent point.
Good summary of the Left.
same with Reagan
somewhat true, if they have no convictions. But if the reason for the change is they listened and were convinced by reason, changing back is unlikely.
Funny, the “No Kings” people fashion themselves “Kingmakers”.
That is so true. I know people who are proof of that. They've seen the party they once belonged to go completely insane in one short decade, so they understand that evil in a way lifetime Republicans might not. They're like the first wave of Cuban refugees after Castro took power. They understand the threat today's Democrat party poses.
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