As Sarah Palin another loathsome vice presidential candidate famously said: “You can put lipstick ( or in this case eyeliner) on a pig and it’s still a pig.”

She could have been talking about JD Vance.

At the debate, Vance may have seemed “normal,” reasonable, even affable. However, he is still the childless-cat lady-hating, cat-eating-fabricator, immigrant-fearing, anti-abortion, weird white supremacist he always was.

Last night, in a slick sleight of hand, he nimbly sold Trumpism, making it palatable and even reasonable-sounding.

The right is praising JD Vance’s performance declaring it a big win for the Republicans.

That may be but it was not a big win for truth.

If  Green Acre’s most notorious husker Mr. Haney had gone to Yale Law School he would sound a lot like JD Vance did last night. Gussied up and well-spoken he was still a slick, oily, opportunistic snake oil salesman trying to swindle you and sell you shoddy ideas, hogwash, and bogus, out-right lies.

From one answer to another, he always had a trick up his sleeve, a convivial con artist avoiding any reality. Polished up and agreeable he was at the end of the day still a snake oil salesman.

Tim Walz on the other hand was, folksy, humble, and down to earth. In the world of Hooterville, he was more Sam Drucker, the honest storekeeper who offered folks what they needed and reliable programs that actually would work.

Maybe the needle wasn’t moved as a result of the debate, but when Donald Trump loses, JD Vance has set himself up to be the standard bearer of hate and divisiveness.