By Jacob Bogage
WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Late in his blitz to salvage Republicans' midterm fortunes, Vice President JD Vance shifted strategy. He talked less about President Donald Trump and more about the issues that define his own political identity.
Vance argued the case for Republicans, who lost control of Congress in Tuesday’s vote, almost exclusively through the lens of his policy portfolio, according to a Reuters review of half a dozen speeches since the Republican convention in September.
He bypassed Trump's signature policies including the Iran war and deportations as polls showed the president's sagging popularity dragging down Republican office-seekers.
The change was deliberate, according to two people familiar with the strategy. Vance and his advisers saw the issues he championed — economic nationalism, foreign policy restraint, and public safety — as politically potent subjects he could address with authority. While Trump embraced them as part of his MAGA movement, Vance had emerged as their lead crusader, the people said.
The shift offered an early glimpse of how the 42-year-old vice president could chart his own course as Republicans begin looking beyond Trump.
Vance hasn’t said whether he will run for president in 2028, and Trump hasn’t endorsed him or anyone else. But Vance is viewed as a leading potential contender who some Republican officials say will need to inherit much of Trump’s coalition while separating himself from his boss's baggage.
Vance took a more public step on Wednesday toward reinforcing his own political brand with an unusually blunt election postmortem. In a social media post, he blamed the Iran war for Republicans’ midterm defeat and laid out a platform for a Republican rebound.
He called for a swift end to the conflict and urged Republicans to focus on affordability, reevaluate foreign relations and overhaul the US relationship with Israel.
Trump has called Americans’ affordability concerns a Democratic “hoax.” He launched a war against Iran following sustained lobbying from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump went on to endorse Netanyahu in the Israeli election.
VANCE MAKES UNEASE AT THE WAR PUBLIC
The post for the first time put Vance openly on the side of ending the war.
Three people familiar with the White House and Vance's communications told Reuters that the vice president was not breaking with Trump and said White House chief of staff Susie Wiles knew in advance about Vance's post.
On Friday, Trump reshuffled senior White House leadership, replacing Wiles with Stephen Miller in a move that suggests the White House plans to double down on some of Trump’s more hardline policies.
Trump has acknowledged the Iran war played a role in the Republican rout because of the resulting high gas prices but has continued to defend it. "I would have done nothing different," he told reporters on Wednesday.
Reuters could not determine whether Trump was aware of the post in advance.
Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, endorsed Vance's remarks on social media, along with some conservative allies.
The dialogue further elevated Vance as a potential post-Trump conservative standard-bearer, said Michael Ricci, a Republican strategist and former adviser to House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan.
USING THE MEGAPHONE OF THE VICE PRESIDENCY
He said Vance’s message forced conservatives to debate the merits of the war, and more broadly, what core tenets Republican presidential candidates should embrace in 2028.
"It’s simplistic to say this about him looking for ways to differentiate himself from Trump," Ricci said. "This is about him using his megaphone of the vice presidency to set the terms of debate."
Representatives for Vance declined to comment. White House representatives referred Reuters to Trump's comments on Wednesday, when he told reporters he understood Vance's perspective on the election results.
Democrats are poised to tie Vance – or any Republican nominee – to Trump in 2028, especially if Trump plays a large role in vetting conservative hopefuls.
"There’s a real challenge of how you position yourself to be viable in a general election while winning a primary that still requires you to bow down and kiss the ring,” said Igor Volsky, a Democratic strategist.
Vance’s brand did not emerge from the midterms unscathed. Republicans lost in states where he campaigned. Some of the strategies he endorsed – including an ad by Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy that cast doubt on the sexual abuse suffered by the victorious Democratic candidate, Amy Acton – may have swung races away from Republicans.
Other possible 2028 presidential contenders have offered their diagnoses of the midterm defeat. US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said Republicans hadn't done enough on affordability. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said losing candidates had focused too heavily on transgender issues and neglected voter concerns about data centers and artificial intelligence. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stayed silent.
Vance's effort to shape the debate was visible during the closing days of the campaign.
In stump speeches, he told voters to support Republicans because they would investigate fraud in federal health care and antipoverty programs, tying that to the White House's immigration agenda and cost of living. He almost entirely ignored the Iran war and gas prices, and seldom mentioned Trump by name.
“I want my kids to raise a family in a country that is vibrant and thriving and free and prosperous. I want the simple things,” Vance told one of his final rallies in North Carolina. “And because I want that for me, I want it for you too.”
(Reporting by Jacob Bogage; additional reporting by Erin Banco; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Suzanne Goldenberg)
