What Republicans like J.D. Vance know: Selling out to Trump pays off. Principles don't.

Ohio author J.D. Vance’s latest political reincarnation brings to mind the contrasting careers of Richard Rich, a successful politician in Tudor England, and Saint Thomas More, a more principled but in the end less successful Tudor leader, at least in material terms. 

Thomas More refused (as a matter of principle) to take King Henry the VIII’s oath of supremacy. Richard Rich, however, had no principles. Rich is assumed to have lied at More’s treason trial, resulting in More’s martyrdom and eventual sainthood, and Rich’s appointment as Wales’ attorney general. Or, as More (in the movie “A Man for All Seasons”) says to Richard Rich: "For Wales? Why Richard, it profit a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world … but for Wales?" 

Rich switched sides many times over the course of his career and betrayed many people, eventually rising to become lord chancellor of England. The distinguished historian Hugh Trevor Roper called Rich a man "of whom nobody has ever spoken a good word." On the other hand, Rich died of old age as a very wealthy member of the English establishment. Who says a complete lack principles doesn’t pay?  

Rewards and no risks for groveling

Richard Rich seems to be the role model for Republicans who denounced Donald Trump when they thought it was politically safe and prudent to do so, but now rally to Trump because of his continuing appeal within their party. They’re clearly people who can, and will, adjust their consciences to fit this year’s political fashion. People like Vance, who once once called Trump “cultural heroin” but now – seeking the GOP nomination for an open Senate seat in Ohio – has deleted his critical tweets and apologized for them.

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Trump refused to accept the outcome of the 2020 election and tried to stage a coup. He’s clearly unfit for office and a danger to our republic – but he remains popular with the GOP base. So, with only a few honorable exceptions, most GOP politicians genuflect before Trump.  

Vance, author of the best-seller "Hillbilly Elegy," is just the latest of Trump’s GOP critics to bend the knee and offer to kiss Trump’s hand (or whatever part of Trump’s anatomy is required) for an endorsement. By flattering and groveling to Trump, Vance makes himself politically relevant in the modern GOP. Even if Vance isn’t nominated in Ohio (which has a crowded field of Trump sycophants), he’s positioned himself for future advancement in Trump’s GOP.  

As the distinguished American economist and statesman John Kenneth Galbraith pointed out in his book, "The Affluent Society," trying to explain why conventional wisdom is so hard to change, “It is far, far better and much safer to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought.” Vance has sided with the majority of the GOP in choosing the safety of nonsense.  

But if the GOP base eventually turns against Trump, Vance (and others like him) will pay no penalty for supporting Trump – provided they jump ship at the right moment. As with Rich, Vance and the other Trump lackeys will likely die wealthy and comfortable, after long careers as political weather vanes. If that sounds harsh, consider some recent American history. Various Americans who supported segregation up until the 1960s weren’t excluded from public life just because they’d been racists. 

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In 1957 (when official segregation was common), National Review founder and editor William F. Buckley published an essay “Why the South Must Prevail” where he said: “The central question … is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not predominate numerically? The sobering answer is Yes – the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race."

Third-rate careerists in shifting winds 

This racist psychobabble didn’t do Buckley’s career any harm. After civil rights legislation was passed and legally enforced segregation ended, Buckley graciously conceded he was wrong and supported policies reflecting his evolution. But what if the white South had prevailed? Would Buckley have changed?

And this isn’t just about Buckley. Until the passage and enforcement of basic civil rights legislation, the norm in the South (and too often in the North) was elected officials with dirty hands concerning segregation and suppression of Black Americans. But by the end of the 1960s, whether in an honest reckoning or a bow to prevailing political winds or both, most of these elected officials had recanted their views and smoothly moved on with their careers.   

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By contrast, the many brave Americans who fought for civil rights when it wasn’t safe often suffered assaults, loss of jobs, ended up with criminal records, spent years fighting in court and some were murdered for what they were trying to accomplish.

Maybe Vance and company truly believe they’re doing what’s best for America. Maybe they’ve convinced themselves that even more awful people will take their places if they don’t serve Lord Trump. Or, maybe they assume someone else will stand up for our country and do the right thing, since they’re too busy doing what’s best for their own careers. In any event, they’ll be fine. 

What's not certain is whether our American Constitution will survive the damage caused by these third-rate political careerists.  

Steven Strauss, a member of Paste BN's Board of Contributors, is a lecturer and visiting professor at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Follow him on Twitter: @Steven_Strauss