CBS News hosted the only debate between the two candidates for Vice President on Tuesday, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Does it matter? Nominally. Most voters likely saw their biases reinforced. Walz repeated the things that Democrats cared about and Vance did the same for Republicans. The two were, however, respectful of one another, which is rare in American politics.
In terms of suave and debate skills, Senator Vance delivered a masterclass in doing the prep work for debate clubs around the world. He was respectful, prepared and unflustered. He pushed back when the rules were changed on him by the moderators but did not come off as belligerent while doing so. He clearly has a star quality, no matter what you think of him.
Governor Walz failed to answer for his inconsistent bio such as when he said he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square protests when it is clear he wasn’t. Democratic voters won’t care about that.
Senator Vance did hit the Harris campaign hard on her failed border policies. Governor Walz suggested that President Biden’s immigration bill would have fixed all of that but it did not pass Congress. Vance pointed out that Harris had been in charge of the border and CBS News published this “Fact Check” on X, claiming that this was false. Only it’s not. President Biden DID put Harris in charge of the border in March of 2021. CBS News themselves reported that. As usual, the biggest casualty in these debates is the media.
