On the Trail With Trump, Vance Shows He Knows His Place: Offstage, Mostly

It was his first campaign rally as Donald J. Trump’s running mate, and JD Vance was up onstage, all by his lonesome, playing it humble.

“It’s still a little bit weird to see my name on those signs,” Mr. Vance, a senator from Ohio, told a packed arena of Trump supporters in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Saturday. “Some of you may not know me,” the senator, a best-selling memoirist whose life story was turned into a Ron Howard movie, added.

Yet, Mr. Vance’s debut made clear one indisputable fact: While his political career has been propelled by his biography — the story of his climb from poverty to Yale Law School to media stardom to populist princeling — this campaign is not about him. When Mr. Trump is near, he is the warm-up act.

In his 12-minute solo set, Mr. Vance showed he understood the arrangement. While he flicked at his rags-to-riches story, he talked most effusively about Mr. Trump and how he has the most splendid judgment of any politician ever. In a pale imitation of the master, he trash-talked the press, and the crowd booed on cue.

When it was time to bring out the headliner, Mr. Vance, who at 39 is younger than most of Mr. Trump’s children, said: “Come on out, sir!”

Being Mr. Trump’s running mate is dangerous business. The last one, Mike Pence, ended up the target of death threats and mockery, and ultimately landed in political exile. The trick to lasting affection in Mr. Trump’s orbit is unwavering deference. The former president doesn’t share the spotlight.