After midterm rout, Vance tries to build his own 2028 brand

After suffering a significant loss in the midterm elections, Vice President JD Vance is seeking to establish his own political brand for 2028. Instead of focusing on President Donald Trump, Vance has shifted his strategy to discuss the issues that define his own political identity. According to a Reuters review of Vance's speeches since the Republican convention in September, he has emphasized his policy portfolio, including economic nationalism, foreign policy restraint, and public safety.

Vance bypassed Trump's signature policies such as the Iran war and deportations, as polls showed the president's declining popularity was dragging down Republican office-seekers. This shift is deliberate, according to those familiar with the strategy, as Vance and his advisers see these issues as politically potent subjects he can address with authority.

While Trump embraces these ideas as part of the MAGA movement, Vance has emerged as their lead crusader. Vance's message has forced conservatives to debate the merits of the Iran war and what core tenets Republican presidential candidates should embrace in 2028. However, Republicans lost in states where Vance campaigned, and some of his endorsed strategies, such as questioning the sexual abuse allegations against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, may have swung races away from Republicans.

Other potential 2028 presidential contenders have offered their own diagnoses of the midterm defeat. Despite these challenges, Vance's effort to shape the debate has been evident in the campaign's closing days, with him almost entirely ignoring the Iran war and gas prices and seldom mentioning Trump by name.