As we await JD Vance’s speech at the Republican National Convention tonight, it’s worth contemplating that Donald Trump’s selection of Vance as his running mate was pure Trump.

A normal politician would have picked former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Haley would presumably have broad appeal to non-Trumpy, suburban Republicans and stereotypical “soccer moms.” In lieu of Haley, choosing Sen. Marco Rubio or North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum might have been a tolerable compromise.

Vance — the 39-year-old senator from Ohio, famed “Hillbilly Elegy” author and former U.S. Marine — reinforces Trump’s default posture, which is to always be on the offense and anxious for the fray.

In the immediate wake of the assassination attempt on Trump’s life, Vance made the audacious, irresponsible and unsubstantiated claim that the Biden campaign’s rhetoric “led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

Trump’s selection of Vance tells you all you need to know about Trump’s desire for “unity” —unless that word simply means “to agree with Trump.” But it also demonstrates how Trump has succeeded by defying conventional political wisdom.

Building a majority coalition, we were once told,........

© The Hill