The Vance vs Walz vice presidential debate is now in the record books as of Tuesday night. Let’s take a look at the highlights.
Politics :
Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance, and Democratic vice presidential candidate, Gov. Tim Walz, met Tuesday for what may be the final debate before the November 5th election. So, how did Vance vs Walz do?
TIM WALZ
Gov. Walz began the debate exceptionally nervous. Before being selected, he admitted to the Harris camp that debates were not his strong suit — and it showed. He shifted back and forth quite frequently, used his trademark scowl/frown as his go-to look, regularly looked down to take notes (which appeared more as a nervous twitch than a need to notate something), and seemed totally unaware of his own visual optics while on camera.
For the first hour, Walz was weak. He completely fumbled an explanation of why he falsely claimed he was in China during the Tiananmen Square incident. When the moderator followed up, Walz continued to stumble and should have simply admitted that he misspoke—but he did not. He also failed to fact-check Vance on a number of lies. However, Walz was much stronger in the 2nd hour.
He nailed Trump for stopping the bipartisan border bill for presumed political advantage. He talked about Vance “creating stories” (eating the dogs and cats) that vilified Haitians in Ohio. He also asked Vance what happened with Trump’s promise that Mexico would pay for his border wall when, to date, they haven’t “paid a dime.”
Walz also discussed Trump’s penchant for believing he knows better than everyone, including experts.
“If you need heart surgery, listen to the surgeons at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Not Donald Trump,” Walz said.
He also quoted scripture, called himself a “union guy,” and made sure to mention that both he and Kamala Harris are gun owners.
However, the biggest moment of the night for Walz was when he asked Vance if Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance was immediately flustered and, knowing that Donald Trump was watching, was only willing to say that he is “focused on the future.”
That’s a “damning non-answer,” Walz replied.
JD VANCE
Vance is clearly a seasoned politician and, on Tuesday night, it showed. He spent the evening being polite, smooth, much kinder to his opponent than Trump has ever been to Kamala Harris (or anyone), and displayed himself as a slick speaker. He also proved that he was a master of the art of lying to the American people with a disarming smile.
Vance lied by claiming that Trump saved Obamacare and that he participated in a peaceful transfer of power in 2020. He refused to discuss why he flip-flopped on his abortion stance, or why he supports Donald Trump now after previously referring to him as “Hitler.”
When asked about his stance on gun violence and if parents should be held responsible for mass shootings, Vance deflected. Instead, he gave a strange response about making school doors and windows stronger.
When Vance was asked why Donald Trump only has a “concept” of a health plan instead of an actual one, he again deflected and said something about Obamacare being a failure.
Additionally, Vance was asked point blank if he would certify the election if he became the vice president. He responded by saying “We should be talking about the future,” before veering into a word salad about censorship, etc.
“Mike Pence chose to certify the election. That’s why he’s not on this stage,” Tim Walz pressed. Still, Vance did not reply.
Each time moderators asked Vance a question, he regularly responded with a smooth non-answer that had absolutely nothing to do with the question. Regrettably, Tim Walz let him get away with it for most of the night.
CLOSING REMARKS
During closing remarks of the Vance vs Walz debate, Gov. Walz thanked Vance for his civility and then made it clear that democracy matters. He also reminded voters that Kamala Harris has stitched together a unique coalistion of supporters, including Bernie Sanders, Dick Cheney, and Taylor Swift.
Vance used his final remarks to talk about energy/heat and how Kamala Harris has made a lot of promises but made none of them happen over her 3 1/2 years of being vice president.
All in all, JD Vance was probably the “winner” of the night. Still, the Vance vs Walz debate likely didn’t move the needle one iota. Voters are already locked in on either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. Or, in other words, neither Tim Walz nor JD Vance will be a difference-maker in this election.
OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
The Vance vs Walz vice presidential debate.
The Daily Beast: Snap polls following Tuesday’s vice presidential debate show voters think Ohio Sen. JD Vance and his Democratic opponent, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, ended their verbal jousting in a virtual draw. A flash poll by CBS News and YouGov, released shortly after the debate aired, saw 42 percent of likely voters giving a win to Vance and 41 percent to Walz, while 17 percent judged it a tie. A CNN poll of registered voters who watched the debate, conducted by SSRS produced a similar result: 51 percent said they thought Vance performed better and 49 percent gave the nod to Walz. Likely voters were also split 50/50 in a Politico/Focaldata snap poll. However, the Politico poll showed Walz with a sixteen point lead among independent voters: 58 percent said the Minnesota governor won the debate versus 42 percent who sided with Vance. One poll broke with the pack:… Read more »