I love how name familiarity was used when JD was picked. Vance/Pence. One syllable, ends in -nce, Midwest guy, looks harmless.
It's one of the rules of politics. It's the same reason some political families flourish like Bush, Romney, Roosevelt, Rockefeller…Humans attach themselves to the familiar. Brains don't like change. The easy route is something easily recognizable.
The same reason why Trump was chosen, especially in the t.v/digital age.