There is an uncanny symmetry in the two presidential candidates’ choice of vice presidential running mates. There are a few superficial differences–Republican J.D. Vance is 40, Democrat Tim Walz 60. Vance is bearded, Walz balding.

The similarities are greater, and they go beyond the fact of their military service. Both were chosen by principals in moments of exuberance: former President Donald Trump after he’d walloped President Joe Biden in debate and survived an assassination attempt, Vice President Kamala Harris after she’d outperformed expectations and surged to a lead in the polls.

Each might have reflected that poll leads can vanish and that, in any case, theirs were not so impressive. Trump never quite reached 50% against Biden, and Harris’ numbers remain well short of Biden’s 4.5-percentage-point popular vote lead that enabled him to win an Electoral College majority by only 42,918 votes in three states.

As it often does with politicians, optimism prevailed. Each nominee–Harris has been nominated preconvention over the internet–chose a candidate whose record accentuated the ticket’s differences from earlier party traditions–and who has seemed less likely than possible alternatives to appeal to voters dismayed by both alternatives.

Vance is a convert, from a 2016 scoffer at Trumpism to a true believer, in a demotic Republican Party that reflects the cultural discontents and economic grievances of a working-class majority–“demotic” comes from the same Greek root as “democracy.” He articulately defends tariffs, scoffs at Ukraine aid, and celebrates family values not just abstractly but with provocative references to “childless cat ladies.”

Walz, despite his roots in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, and occasional centrist........

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