Vance has ideas for our country

Here I was, thinking that my vote counted just as much as any other American, in this great societal experiment we call American, until U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance opened my eyes this week. Now that our J.D. (a sobriquet I don't care for much, but that's what he goes by) — we Buckeyes have to acknowledge we are the ones who boosted him into politics — has been named to be the running mate on the Trump presidential ticket, all sorts of Vance's past snippets have come to light. One of them, and call me crazy but this is one of my favorite J.D.-isms so far, was this gem from a speech he gave in 2021 to the conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute: "Let's give votes to all children in this country, but let's give control over those votes to the parents of those children." Back then, Vance's claim to fame was mainly waxing eloquent about hillfolk, but his trajectory has since taken a sharp upward turn. But that was before the Cincinnati Republican's political fate was boosted — twice — by the man he used to freely criticize harshly, like when he said Trump was "America's Hitler." It's been eye-opening, seeing reporters uncover other instances of Vance's uttered words over the years. Here in Ohio, we've had plenty of opportunity to get used to Vance, but seeing the nation's reaction to Vance's highlight reel is another thing entirely. It always seems to end with the observer coming away with the same look: "I told you. What did I tell you? Did you hear that?" Whether it's said with pride or dismay is based on one's party affiliation, and, I think, wistfully and not for the first time, how much I miss when people just evaluated statements based on good sense and wisdom, rather than political alignment. Like when Vance says things about handing out extra votes to people because they have kids. All my life, I have heard politicians run entire campaigns bashing people for having kids "just so they can get welfare" or "more food stamps" or just the general, "another government check." That was disgraceful, they bellowed. But here we are, with Vance talking about handing out extra votes like coupons for 50-cent Frostys: One per child, ma'am. How many do you have? Well that is not fair of me, as I can't find any information on how Vance proposes to hand out these extra votes, but I assume it'd be one vote per child. I'm a mom, and I gotta tell you, I've been thinking of all kinds of ways to put my new votes to use. No more "one person, one vote" nonsense for me. Step aside, you one-vote-only rabble, I'm coming in hot with my extra votes. I'd like to know if I can extend my voting rights, as well. For example, if my children becomes an adult and decides not to vote, do I still get to use theirs? Will there be a contingency clause, something along the lines of "well, if you're not going to use it I'm not just going to let it go to waste"? And will both parents get an extra vote, or is it just one per child per household? What if a couple only has one child, but they can't agree on who to vote for with that one extra vote? It's dizzying, trying to think all this through but I guess that is why we leave such big decisions to those more qualified than us, surely. Which brings me to another idea Vance promotes, that "childless cat ladies" are ruining the country. I'm old enough to remember several seasons now of What Is Ruining The Country, a game that simmers around the clock on social media and then every election cycle comes loping out of the mouths of political candidates like so many unleashed wolves. Back in my youth, the list included welfare queens, Dungeons & Dragons, MTV, terrorists, teen apathy and AIDS victims. In my parents' age it was rock & roll, teen rebellion and secret communists. Today, we seem really focused on transgender people, pesky library books, immigrants and childless cat ladies. In 2021, a year he was running for Senate, Vance told Fox News that the country was being run "by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made. It turns out — and not a lot of people know this — that before I was a mom, I was a childless lady. I even had a cat. I never realized, then, that my vote — "my voice," Vance is quick to repeat — was not quite worth as much as my fellow Americans with kids, because I had "no direct stake" in our nation. Well, what's done is done. Maybe, if Vance gets his way, the childless will just go away and children really will get to have more voice in politics. Considering that guns are the leading cause of death for youth ages 1 to 19 in America, and one in five children doesn't have enough to eat, I've been thinking about what their priorities would be if they could be in charge. I hope it would be more about leading than calling out cat ladies. Contact Chronicle-Telegram columnist Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.