COUNTERPOINT: JD Vance Speaks for Rural America

Too often, rural Americans feel ignored by presidential campaigns. While elites in Washington, New York, and Los Angeles generate headlines, focusing mostly on the two coasts, Americans outside the big cities continue to go unnoticed.

That has to change, and the 2024 election could be the tipping point. Democrat or Republican, the side that appeals most to a man or woman in rural America, has a much better chance of winning the White House. Deciding between Trump-Vance and Harris-Walz, I’m betting on JD Vance to make that difference.

Vance eventually became a household name with his bestselling 2016 autobiography, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis , which took a hard look at his Kentucky family’s Appalachian values ​​and the socioeconomic struggles of his hometown of Middletown, Ohio. From alcoholism to drug addiction to family conflict, Vance beautifully illustrated the very real issues that affect so many Americans in the “flyover country”—the places millions of patriotic Americans still call home.

Like Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, Vance now embodies the voice of the voiceless, speaking on behalf of farmers. Even liberals acknowledge Vance’s “rural roots” and his compelling story. It’s no wonder he’s campaigning specifically to rural Americans.

Remember: Nearly 20 percent of Americans live in rural counties, and those counties are growing as Americans increasingly embrace old-school American values ​​like hard work, individual responsibility, entrepreneurship and all the innovation that goes with it. For decades, the Republican Party has been the party of the free market, and there are no better ambassadors for it than Trump and Vance.

Tim Walz, on the other hand, is no ambassador for the American dream. He has spent his entire career in government living off U.S. taxpayer dollars while promoting policies that will undermine economic innovation. From tax hikes to job-killing farm regulations, Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris are intent on growing government.

While most states have cut taxes to encourage private investment and economic growth in recent years, Minnesota is a rare exception, largely because of Walz, who has raised taxes despite the state’s existing budget surplus. Walz, a staunch supporter of labor unions, has imposed dozens of new regulations on businesses, cementing Minnesota’s government as one of the most burdensome bureaucracies in America.

Walz has taught school in China and supported the Chinese Communist Party, visiting the country dozens of times (including on his honeymoon). Beginning with the sweeping Obama-era Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, he has voted with Democrats on burdensome environmental regulations that make it harder for farmers to sell their crops.

Just look at Minnesota, where small business owners fled because of Walz’s economic policies. To quote one Minnesota farmer, Walz “did very little to help rural Minnesota,” turning the state into a “mini-California” obsessed with social issues and identity politics.

Vance is the opposite, supporting traditional family values ​​and trusting rural Americans to live free from government overreach. He has a strong reputation for championing farmers as a Friend of Agriculture designated by Ohio Farm Bureau members, opposing Chinese competition in agriculture and propositions like the death tax that could force family farms to liquidate in order to pay taxes.

Vance and Trump do not want a high-spending, high-tax America where leftist social policies—policies that rural Americans reject—win. The numbers don’t lie: Since 2016, Trump has appealed uniquely to rural voters, winning their support time and again as he tries to make America great again.

Despite continued criticism from coastal elites, rural voters continue to support Trump, and their support will be stronger with Vance at his side.

There is only one ticket to rural America: Trump-Vance. The alternative—Walz’s radical left—couldn’t be worse.

Joseph Semprevivo is a former business professor and author of the bestselling book Madness, Miracles, and Millions.