I'm with Damon - Trump is a unique threat, and just about anybody else, including J.D. Vance, would be a lesser evil.

* Trump is an authentic nihilist. Vance can pander to nihilists, but it's not who he is.

* Trump is a cult leader. Most of the cultists would not accept Vance as a substitute for their idol - they would not do a coup to keep Vance in office.

* Trump is lazy, stupid, and incompetent. Vance is none of those things, which means he could execute the normal, day-to-day duties of his office - duties Trump often neglected or flubbed. This might make Vance more energetic in undermining democracy, but who can say he would not undergo another chameleon-like transformation once Trump is out of the way?

The only person I can think of who might be as bad as Trump is Tucker Carlson. He can check the nihilist and cult leader boxes. While he is not stupid, I suspect he is lazy - that's probably why he has not seemed interested in running for office, which would require more work than being a Twitter pundit.