You know someone has plans to be a US president when the person takes up golf.

When Trump was picking his running mate, you knew J.D. Vance would be selected. He took up golf when Trump became president the first time. That wasn’t a coincidence. He marked his man and ticket to the White House.

Kamala Harris was an obtuse candidate who never got the nuances of power. She guessed and was widely off the mark. She never played golf, and she could never be a serious contender. For the exception of Jimmy Carter, who was a one-term wonder, if there is a non-golfer running against a golfer, the golfer wins. You can take it to the bank.

My book got stymied because no one wanted to draw attention to the fact that Harris didn’t golf. When Biden was running, I was getting attention for The Sport of Presidents. The switch cost me a lot of sales.

Of course, there are other essential elements required aside from golf, but it’s one of the biggest. Vance doesn’t have the other elements. As in, not at all, but he does have golf; so he has some feel for trying to vie for the presidency. But that’s another story.

But golf is presidential currency. The Democrats tried not to draw attention to Harris’s lack of golf credit, but it couldn’t work. Golf is an extension of the Oval Office. Presidents do business out there when they don’t want to do it in the Oval Office.

If you want to be a serious contender, you need currency, and that currency is golf. It is not a guarantee to win, especially if your political rival also plays golf (ask golfer Hillary Clinton), but if they don’t, you’re a shoo-in.