U.S. Vice-President JD Vance recently appeared on a CBS News town hall moderated by Tony Dokoupil. While there was one exchange that piqued interest among circles of interest, it was a different exchange that actually deserves more of our time, attention and consideration.

Vance’s response at the Oct. 18 town hall that “there’s a chance” he won’t run for president in 2028 raised some eyebrows. “Man, we’ve got four little kids,” he told Dokoupil, and acknowledged that his wife, Usha, “has never loved politics” but “she loves public service. I think you know you can do a lot of good in this job, and I’ve tried to do as much good as possible.” He admitted “the way that I think about life, big life decisions – my wife will tell you this – is I’m a procrastinator. I hate thinking about it.”

I think we can safely say this was more of a way to deflect attention from his forthcoming presidential bid than anything else.

Vance is the acknowledged Republican front-runner to replace U.S. President Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. An Oct. 11 FocalData poll had him at 38 per cent, well ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (24 per cent), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (nine per cent) and the president’s son and businessman Donald Trump Jr. (seven per cent). While nothing is guaranteed in politics, he’s off to a strong start and could easily build additional momentum before the presidential primaries begin.

I’m sure his wife doesn’t particularly care for Washington’s political scene. Usha would hardly be the first political spouse to have ever said so, following in the footsteps of Peggy Taylor, Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, Pat Nixon and Melania Trump. Having a young family can also be a potential deterrent for anyone seeking higher office. The safety, security and privacy of your children must always be a top priority.

Nevertheless, a golden opportunity to run and serve as the nation’s leader is staring the 42-year-old in the face. The chances of him passing on this important moment in U.S. political history seems highly unlikely.

Which brings us to a different response by Vance during the town hall that was very presidential-sounding in tone and tenor.

Vance spoke with Eddie Rubin, a Jewish Democrat whose two preschool children survived the March 12 terror attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. Rubin acknowledged frustrations with his own party on the issue of antisemitism, which has led to political indecisiveness on his part. Irrespective of this, he asked the VP if he would condemn racism and antisemitism on the political right as well as “influential people” in the coalition like political commentator Tucker Carlson, who he believed was spreading “antisemitic rhetoric that has put a target on my children’s back.”

Vance’s critics have repeatedly expressed their displeasure that he hasn’t condemned Carlson, his longtime friend, in public to date. He didn’t do this at the town hall, either.

Nevertheless, I thought the VP’s response was not only well-constructed and thought out, but it’s exactly what he needs to do when confronted with this type of question.

“I condemn antisemitism. I condemn Jew hatred. I condemn anybody who would judge another human being based on who the mother or father were, what their ethnicity was, what their religion is,” Vance said. “And I think that leadership, that fundamental leadership principle, has to start there. That we can condemn this unequivocally.”

He spoke about the issue of family. “I cannot imagine, as a father, I’ve got kids that are not that different ages from you, I cannot imagine what you’ve been dealing with, what you dealt with on that day. And I’d ask all of our fellow Americans, whatever your background is, try to understand the perspective of a father getting that phone call and finding out, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know if my little babies are okay.’ And I think if we have that empathy, and we combine that with the simple principle that we reject ethnic hatred, we reject Jew hatred, I think that is a first start, but it’s not hardly enough.”

We’ll also throw in his assessment about miscreants on the political right. “Look, there are people in our coalition who certainly say terrible things, things I disagree with, anti-semitic things,” he told Rubin. “There’s this podcaster who obsessively goes after me and my family, and I joke with my Jewish friends he also goes obsessively after Jews, so we’re in good company. I guess, since you’re a Democrat, you might say you’re in bad company, but regardless, we’re in the same boat.” The last line elicited a smile from Rubin and a few other attendees.

While some people were irritated that Vance didn’t directly condemn Carlson – the “podcaster” he referred to was likely Nick Fuentes – they’re actually missing the point.

Putting Vance and Carlson’s friendship aside, this issue is part of a much broader conversation about racism, antisemitism and ethnic hatred that must be acknowledged, tackled and condemned. Focusing on specific individuals, rather than the systemic problem, would be the worst way to deal with it. If Vance chooses to critique or condemn Carlson down the road, that’s his decision to make. But if he wants to become president, this is the type of response that shows he’s thinking about the entire matter rather than one smaller aspect of it.

Dealing with difficult issues and significant controversies in a broader context is a far better strategy than focusing on narrower themes like calling out people and settling scores. It creates a proper environment for discussion, debate, long-term impact and permanent change to be achieved.

Vance may be a procrastinator who is weighing the pros and cons of a presidential run, but his response about racism and antisemitism was exactly what a president should say and do.

Michael Taube is a political commentator, Troy Media syndicated columnist and former speechwriter for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics, lending academic rigour to his political insights.