We hope to know more about Senate candidate JD Vance other than Donald Trump endorsed him

Akron Beacon Journal Editorial Board

With the general election just three months away, some have wondered about the absence of J.D. Vance commercials and appearances around the state.

Apparently, money is a factor in ad campaigns in the U.S. Senate race, with the Republican lagging behind 13th District Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Howland. Ryan raked in $9.1 million in the second fundraising quarter compared to Vance's $2.3 million, according to federal filings.

Now, however, we are getting more tidbits on the Middletown, Ohio, native, who will face Ryan in the race to fill retiring Sen. Rob Portman’s seat.

A commercial released this past week features Vance’s wife, Usha, stating that he is a great father and her best friend. On Twitter, Vance noted that his visit Tuesday to the Ohio State Fair, where he judged a rib competition, coincided with his birthday (his 38th).

This trickle of information is in contrast to hard-hitting Ryan ads, including one that disparages a Vance nonprofit called Our Ohio Renewal. Vance promised the charity would fight the opioid crisis, but instead it “funneled tens of thousands to his top political adviser and paid tens of thousands for political polling,” the Ryan ad claims.

The independent fact-checking website PolitiFact rates the ad’s claims “mostly true,” noting that the nonprofit’s executive director back in 2017 is now the chief strategist on Vance’s 2022 campaign.

Vance’s most thought-provoking argument in his media comments about Ryan involve tying him to President Joe Biden and blaming them, together, for high inflation and concerning price hikes.

In a column he penned for the Cincinnati Enquirer, Vance wrote, “Ryan owns this Biden economy and this inflation storm.”

While it’s tempting to blame the president, inflation has many causes, among them the demand for products after businesses reopened amid an easing of COVID cases and the war in Ukraine. Prices are rising in countries around the world; and in the U.S. gas prices are now falling and may go below $3 per gallon soon, CBS reported.

The Republican, who earned his wealth as a best-selling author and venture capitalist, claims to present a new approach.

It’s something we’d like to hear more about. When will we?

Various Republicans contacted by the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau criticized Vance for not reaching out to Ohioans. Some even took him to task for visiting Israel in July rather than making the rounds in Ohio.

In April, the Beacon Journal editorial board stated that Vance is not Senate material, in part because of his record of flip-flopping on Donald Trump. A group of Ohio Republicans criticized Vance this spring for several “never Trump” comments he made over the years.

But Vance was the one to secure Trump’s endorsement, which likely led to his winning the seven-person Republican primary. As one could expect from a Trump-endorsed candidate, Vance refuses to state simply that Trump lost and Biden won in 2020.

He continues to suggest the vote may have been stolen or rigged, the Associated Press and political news site The Hill report.

And make no mistake, even though many Ohioans may know little about Vance, they do know he was endorsed by Trump. For many, that’s all they need to know to support him. Likewise, it’s all many others need to know to vote against him.

Few polls have been conducted, but one in May showed political newcomer Vance leading the veteran congressman by a mere 2 percentage points.

With all that has been revealed by the Jan. 6 committee hearings this summer, more Americans should be turning away from Trump; but a CNN poll finds the hearings have changed few people’s existing viewpoints.

But some 79% of those polled think Trump acted either unethically or illegally in how he tried to hold on to his office after the 2020 election, CNN reports.

While it’s too soon to predict Vance will coast to a November victory, he is doing well for someone who seemingly isn’t putting in much effort. That his Trump endorsement may serve him well is another sad story about the state of politics today.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: GOP Senate candidate JD Vance rides Donald Trump coattails