JD Vance has not decided to run for president in 2028. This seems sensible. There are several important questions to settle, beginning with whether the contest would have any remaining work to do after Donald Trump answered his.

Vance told Mark Halperin he thinks Trump would endorse him if he ran, though he has not discussed it with him. Fox News reports that he also defended the possibility of Trump waiting: candidates should have a chance to run their own race.

I can follow that. A primary should let voters consider the candidates. I can also follow Vance's earlier position that whoever Trump endorses will win the primary. Combining them is where the democratic exercise starts requiring unusual breathing techniques.

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Let the race unfold, provided the man who can end it feels it has unfolded enough.

Vance further explained that Trump's endorsement tells voters a candidate is not beholden to party elites. So the vice president hopes the president will certify his independence from the people at the top. There may be a less independent way to demonstrate independence, but it would probably require Trump to fill out the application for him.

Vance says voters will decide. Trump is only one vote among many. The difficulty is that his account of the primary gives that one vote a rather useful advance copy of the result.