Let Me Wear Your Skin

AT Lucas

— 3 min read
Share

James Donald Bowman has been watching you and he might want to wear your skin.

Meteoric rise and public image

JD memes make me chuckle

JD Vance was elected to the U.S. Senate on November 8, 2022 and took office January 3, 2023. He was elected to be vice president a year later. He has this strange pattern of skin-suiting (cynically co-opting) and changing his public image to advance deeper into the halls of power.

Names

My JD Floyd NFT is now worth over $50k
  • James Donald Bowman — August 2, 1984 (birth name)
  • James David Hamel — 1996 (after adoption by stepfather)
  • James David Vance — April 2013 (changed surname to Vance)
  • J.D. Vance — 2016 (used professionally when publishing Hillbilly Elegy)
  • JD Vance — 2021 (stylized public name during Senate campaign)

Populism

In 2016, JD Vance publishes the Hillbilly Elegy. Hillbilly doesn't seem like a complimentary word for rural people experiencing the problems described in his book does it?

In 2016, Vance publishes Hillbilly Elegy and declares himself "Never Trump" during the 2016 presidential race. This put him in clear alignment with the elitist-corporate faction of the republican party and against rising populism.

Hillbilly Elegy rejects the populist story that working-class decline is mainly the fault of economic elites or bad trade policy. Instead, it argues that the real crisis comes from cultural breakdown — family collapse, addiction, and personal irresponsibility — problems that no political movement or redistribution plan can fix. By shifting blame from systemic forces to individual choices, the book undercuts the case for populist anger and economic revolt, portraying it as misplaced frustration rather than a justified class uprising.

Fast-forward to him joining the ticket in 2024, he grows a beard and is seen as a legitimate leader and possible successor of MAGA populist world.

Finding Faith

  • 1984–2000s: Nominal Protestant upbringing.
  • College & early career: Became an atheist.
  • 2019: Converted to Catholicism.
  • 2020s–present: Public Catholic voice.

An added dimension of this conversion is that the most influential wing of the populist, America First movement is now led by Catholics, a faction seen as more credible and authentic than the traditionally Zionist-friendly Protestant denominations.

Charlie Kirk and TPUSA

Vance could not jump in front of the tragic assassination fast enough. For some it raised eyebrows, for others it made him a champion of their cause.

A Trojan Horse

JD Vance is a trojan horse being pulled through the city gates of populism. Inside the horse, you will find his patrons which are establishment elites that populism is actually at odds with. I'll write more on who they are in another blog.

I should place a bet on Vance becoming president in 2028. Seems like a lock to me.

What do you think?

Is Vance an authentic politician or a calculated-creation of his backers?

Read more