Takeaways from AP's report on JD Vance and the Catholic postliberals in his circle of influence

Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s 2019 conversion to Catholicism put him in close touch with a Catholic intellectual movement known as postliberalism. Vance calls himself postliberal and echoes some of the movement’s ideas. It has been little known to the American public until Vance’s nomination as Republican vice presidential nominee and running mate to former President Donald Trump. Some critics view postliberalism as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings. Postliberals want a muscular government. They envision taking over government bureaucracies, universities and other institutions from within, replacing “elites” and acting upon their vision of the “common good.”