Steven Roberts: The curse haunting Vance

JD Vance, meet Martin Van Buren. More precisely, the Curse of Martin Van Buren. Van Buren was Andrew Jackson’s vice president when he won the White House in 1836. Since then, only one other sitting vice president has been elected president: George H.W. Bush in 1988, succeeding Ronald Reagan. This is not a random fact. History repeats certain immutable patterns, and here’s one I have discerned during more than 60 years of covering elections. There are only two slogans in American politics: “You Never Had It So Good” and “It’s Time for a Change.” All incumbents run on the first message, and all challengers on the second. But vice presidents have to run on both at the same time, staying loyal to their administration and defending its record while carving out a separate identity. That’s inherently and inevitably a mixed message. And mixed messages do not play well with voters. Just ask Kamala Harris, the most recent vice president who tried — and failed — to escape the Curse of MVB.

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