Vance is the correct pick I think. He is young and perfectly fits the current GOP mold. He is also very smart and may help bring over the Elon Musk/Joe Rogan type of “enlightened conservative.” I think he was the guy Trump really wanted the whole time, not sure if he ever seriously considered Rubio or Burgum but I definitely think his polling lead, Biden’s crises, and now the assassination attempt has put Trump in a position where his VP pick doesn’t have to be a huge political calculation.
His past comments on Trump will amount to a few days of negative press coverage at worse, I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal to Trump’s voters (see No 5 already dismissing it).