Orin S. Kerr | 7.18.2024 3:44 AM

The nomination of J.D. Vance as the Republican party's Vice-Presidential candidate in the upcoming election brings up an interesting contrast. On one hand, today's GOP embraces a heavy dose of populism. It's pretty standard for Republican politicians to rail against elites who are against the average Joe. On the other hand, if you look at the younger generation of GOP leaders, the politicians who are likely to lead the party in coming years, there sure are a lot of Harvard Law School and Yale Law School graduates.

J.D. Vance is one example. He's a graduate of Yale Law School, Class of 2013. But think of other possible future GOP Presidential candidates. There's Senator Joshua Hawley, Yale Law Class of 2006. And lots of Harvard Law grads are in the mix. We have Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Harvard Law Class of 2005 (sort of a crossover, as he went to Yale for college). And Senator Ted Cruz, Harvard Law Class of 1995, where he went after college at Princeton. And there's also Senator Tom Cotton, Harvard Law Class of 2002. I'm probably forgetting others.

It seems worth asking, how is it that the GOP has embraced both populism and a set of prominent figures, at least among the younger generation, who are Harvard Law and Yale Law graduates? Or maybe more specifically, why is it that going to an elite law school seems to be a significant advantage within the GOP?

One answer might be that this is not a story specifically about the GOP at all. There are certainly lots of Democratic leaders who went to these places! It's kinda barfy, if you think about it. If you look at the last eight........

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