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By D.G. Martin

Writing in the Sept. 5 Chicago Tribune, columnist Steve Chapman explained how “JD Vance keeps proving he’s a terrible choice for VP.”

Chapman wrote, with tongue in cheek, “Whatever his many failings and outrages, you have to give Donald Trump credit for picking a sound running mate – someone with experience in government, a mild temperament, a belief in democracy and the backbone to stand up to Trump himself. Unfortunately, that was eight years ago, when Mike Pence joined the Republican ticket.

“This year, Trump chose JD Vance, who is notable in all sorts of ways that don’t put him in a flattering light. His history of misogynistic remarks and his abrupt conversion from fierce Trump critic to fawning Trump toady only underline why he is one of the worst vice-presidential choices of the past century.

“The first requirement of a running mate should be the capacity to step into the most powerful office in the world on a moment’s notice, as several vice presidents have done. For Vance to be in that position would be like the office intern taking over as CEO. At 40, he has held only one political office, U.S. senator, and for less than two years. Preparation for the presidency doesn’t get much more minimal.

“Pence had spent 12 years in Congress and four years as governor of Indiana. Vance is even less qualified than Sarah Palin, who had been a small-town mayor and governor of Alaska before John McCain elevated her to national prominence in 2008.

“Vance’s Kleenex-thin resume matters even more than usual because at 78, Trump is the oldest presidential nominee ever. He has a far higher chance of dying in the next four years than Kamala Harris, who is 59.

“Vance has gotten little scrutiny for his inexperience because he has gotten so much for his strange comments about women – sneering at ‘childless cat women,’ claiming that professional women without kids are on a ‘path to misery’ and apparently agreeing with an interviewer who said that helping to raise grandchildren is ‘the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female.’”

I have mixed feelings about these condescending comments about Vance because he and I share some important common experiences.

JD became famous in 2016 as the author of “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.”

Some of my friends thought I would be interested in Vance because he, like me, is a graduate of Yale Law School. Neither JD nor I are typical Yale Law grads. Although many Yale law students are graduates of Ivy League undergraduate colleges, JD and I graduated from non-Ivy League colleges: JD from Ohio State and I from Davidson.

Both of us had served in the military before entering law school.

Like JD, I wrote a book shortly after law school. His was a best seller. Mine, about the federal regulation of resort real estate sales, sold very few copies, but it helped established my legal credentials.

There are other similarities. Both of us use initials rather than complete first names: he as JD, and I as D.G. The D in both our names stands for David.

Both of us spent significant amount of time growing up in or near Appalachia, he in Kentucky and I in Bristol, Tenn.-Va. We both worked for short times in law firms in Ohio.

I ran for the U.S. Senate and lost. JD won his U.S. Senate race on his first try.

We may be the same in some ways, but very different in others.

For instance, in growing up, I had the full support of a great family and community, while JD had to contend with an unstable family in a struggling community.

As a result, I think we, including the government, should encourage and support strengthening our families and communities.

JD, on the other hand, gives himself credit for his success and resists supporting government efforts at community building.

Notwithstanding our similarities we are going to differ on many important political and social questions for the rest of our lives.

D.G. Martin, a retired lawyer, served as UNC-System’s vice president for public affairs and hosted PBS-NC’s North Carolina Bookwatch.

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