In Ohio's U.S. Senate race, J.D. Vance declares war on behalf of nuclear family
J.D. Vance wants people to have more kids.
At multiple forums last year, the U.S. Senate candidate touted a program in Hungary, pushed by controversial nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, that awards loans to newlyweds who get married before the bride's 41st birthday. The loan is forgiven if the couple produces a certain number of children. Vance argued the U.S. should consider something similar, signaling that its leaders value the institutions of marriage and family.
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“We are not just worried about the lack of babies because it means our media is miserable and because it means our leaders are miserable," he told the crowd at a conference in Virginia. "We’re worried about babies because babies are good, and a country that has children is a healthy country that’s worth living in."
Vance is campaigning on the economy and inflation like many other Republicans as he seeks to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Rob Portman. But he's also carved out a lane in defense of the traditional nuclear family, a move likely to play well with social conservatives who perceive those values as under attack.
Others, however, say it's a lightning rod issue that promotes a narrow worldview.
“If we’re talking about the notion of the nuclear family, we realize that so many families, whether they were cis-created or queer-created, don’t always represent what a traditional family should look like," said Densil Porteous, executive director of Stonewall Columbus.
Vance pushes back against divorce, 'childless cat ladies'
Vance is the first to admit he grew up in an unconventional household. After all, he wrote a book about it.
The "Hillbilly Elegy" author was largely raised by his grandparents after his father left and his mother struggled with addiction. Speaking at Pacifica Christian High School in California last year, he applauded his grandparents for never divorcing even though they had an "incredibly chaotic marriage." In his view, couples should stay together to help their children prosper.
"This is one of the great tricks that I think the sexual revolution pulled on the American populace, which is this idea that like, well, OK, these marriages were fundamentally, you know, they were maybe even violent, but certainly they were unhappy," Vance said. "And so, getting rid of them and making it easier for people to shift spouses like they change their underwear, that’s going to make people happy over the long term. And maybe it worked out for the moms and dads, though I’m skeptical, but it really didn’t work out for the kids of those marriages."
Critics say Vance's comments, first reported by Vice News, show that he believes people should stay in violent marriages for the sake of their children. Vance contends news outlets and the campaign of his Democratic Senate opponent U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan twisted his words and called it a "disgusting" attack on someone who's witnessed domestic abuse.
Still, Vance is undeniably against divorce. And his personal culture war doesn't stop there: He opposes abortion except when it's necessary to save the pregnant person's life. He told a Catholic magazine he wants to ban pornography. He's against same-sex marriage and said he would not support federal legislation to codify marriage equality. He cast Democratic leaders as "childless cat ladies" who don't have a true stake in the country's future.
Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue, said politicians like Vance have realized many of the country's problems, from education to the drug crisis, can be traced back to broken families.
“So much of our conversation today centers around what adults want instead of what children need," Baer said. "If we really want to address the big problems we’re facing as a nation, we need to get back to putting the needs of children above the desires of adults."
The party of family values?
Vance isn't the first Republican to anchor his campaign around families. The GOP began to present itself as the party of family values in the 1990s, largely in response to former President Bill Clinton, said Justin Buchler, a political scientist at Case Western Reserve University.
Since then, divisions have hardened over the concept of the nuclear family. Conservatives blasted Black Lives Matter for once saying it wants to "disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure" by treating their communities as extended families that collectively care for one another. Incidents such as this gave conservatives a perceived threat to fight against, Buchler said.
Democrats are quick to criticize the GOP for touting these views while declining to support policies such as the Child Tax Credit and paid family leave. At a campaign stop earlier this month, Ryan said many of Vance's comments are alienating middle-of-the-road voters.
"This dude wants to try to control people and tell them what to do," Ryan said. "He wants to get power and government to be able to force people what to do. I think it’s alienating people more than anything else. I can’t think of a worse person to talk about family values than J.D. Vance."
To Vance, these are substantive problems that need to be discussed on the campaign trail.
"If you look at childhood trauma, the effect it has on kids growing up, if you look at the effect that our skyrocketing family instability rates have on our crime, on child’s happiness, you’ve got to talk about this stuff," he said in a recent interview. "If you actually raise kids in stable families, they’re much more likely to be prosperous, and I think that’s what we all want, right, is kids to grow up in healthy, happy situations.”
Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio Senate election: J.D. Vance focuses on conservative family issues