My point is simply he has documented political ambitions going back as far as 2016, and acting like Ron Howard couldn’t have been aware of that by 2019 is absurd.

2016: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/12/21/daily-202-why-the-author-of-hillbilly-elegy-is-moving-home-to-ohio/5859da6ee9b69b36fcfeaf48/

“No, not now,” he said when asked if he’ll ever run for office. “I think that I need to live in the state for a while and get to know these problems a little better before actually doing something like that. Never say never, but it’s certainly not something I am thinking about over the short-term.”

2018: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/henrygomez/jd-vance-is-now-seriously-considering-running-for-senate-in

“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing since Friday,” said Jai Chabria, an adviser to Vance who joined him in Washington this week for meetings with those encouraging his candidacy.

“The amount of support for J.D. Vance is incredible,” Chabria told BuzzFeed News. “People are starting to realize he has the best message to beat [Democratic incumbent] Sherrod Brown. J.D. is giving serious consideration toward this, because there are very serious people asking him to run.”

Oh wait, who was Jai Chabria again?

Our Ohio Renewal’s tax filings showed that in its first year, it spent more (over $63,000) on “management services” provided by its executive director Jai Chabria, who also served as Vance’s top political adviser, than it did on programs to fight opioid abuse.