When Ohio Senator and Republican Vice President nominee JD Vance took the stage Tuesday night for the 2024 vice presidential debate against Minnesota Governor and Democratic Vice President nominee Tim Walz, things felt different the second he started speaking.

Throughout the debate, Vance maintained a calm and compassionate tone, starting with his biography and using some good ol’ charm to seduce the audience. This continued in various moments, such as when Walz shared a personal story about someone he knew involved in a school shooting and Vance started his rebuttal by offering condolences.

While this could just be a strategy employed by his campaign, Vance’s performance seemed very genuine. He does not strike me as the kind of guy to put on a false persona or back a candidate he does not believe in, especially when considering his tell-all book Hillbilly Elegy and past comments. But, that’s not what this is about.

Instead, I want to talk to you about today’s Republican Party. 

There has been a growing dislike of the Republican Party in our country among young voters, especially during the Donald Trump era. The Jan. 6 riot, Trump’s rhetoric and what has now been referred to as MAGA Republicans left a bad taste in Generation Z’s mouth. However, before anyone goes so far as to call them far-right lunatics, I want us to stop and think about Vance’s performance a mere week ago. If we can try and be as impartial as possible, he performed pretty well and kept his composure more easily compared to his counterpart.

Generation Z needs to stop the name-calling and judgment, instead allowing Vance’s performance to wash over us so that we can more clearly see that not all Republicans are what we are accustomed to. 

Much of my generation only has one example of a Republican candidate to examine, and that’s Trump. Because he has become such a colossal figure known to say controversial things, he overshadows other Republicans, leaving all of us to forget about the great candidates before him and assume everyone in his party is just like him. But they are not, as proven by Vance.

Though many young people are starting to trend Democrat, Vance’s performance proves Republicans can be fair and level-headed individuals. His party should be thanking him right now because, if young people can meet Vance and the Republicans in the middle, then he just made his party that much more accessible for the future.

Though I am not picking a side when I say this, Vance impressed me the other night and I saw a new side of Republicans. He opened my mind to the possibility of having more centered, less polarizing political parties at a time when it feels like a growing need for our country. 

Senator Vance, you did Republicans a great service and I can only hope my generation is not too blinded by misconceptions to see it.

Follow Nyah (@nyah_rama) and @CHSCampusNews on X.