A cordial, policy-centric affair.
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, talks with Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after the vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Last night’s vice-presidential debate was, to the credit of both Governor Tim Walz and Senator J.D. Vance, cordial and policy centric.
The first question asked by the CBS News moderators was about the escalating war in the Middle East. Vance responded to Walz’s accusation that Trump was an agent of chaos.
J.D. Vance: Now, to answer this particular question, we have to remember that as much as Governor Walz just accused Donald Trump of being an agent of chaos, Donald Trump actually delivered stability in the world, and he did it by establishing effective deterrence. People were afraid of stepping out of line. Iran, which launched this attack, has received over $100 billion in unfrozen assets thanks to the Kamala Harris administration. What do they use that money for? They use it to buy weapons that they’re now launching against our allies and, God forbid, potentially launching against the United States as well.
Tim Walz was asked early in the debate about the inconsistency in his prior assertion that he was in China during the Tiananmen Square democracy protest. He was visibly uncomfortable answering the question.
Tim Walz: All I said on this was as I got there that summer and misspoke on this. So, I will just…that’s what I’ve said. So I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protests went in. And from that I learned a lot of what needed to be in governance.
One policy area in which Democrats have a clear polling advantage is abortion. Vance addressed the Republican Party’s vulnerability head on.
J.D. Vance: My party, we’ve got to do so much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue where they frankly just don’t trust us. And I think that’s one of the things that Donald Trump and I are endeavoring to do. I want us as a Republican Party to be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word. Now, of course, Donald Trump has been very clear that on the abortion policy, specifically, that we have a big country and it’s diverse. And California has a different viewpoint on this than Georgia. Georgia has a different viewpoint from Arizona and the proper way to handle this, as messy as democracy sometimes is, is to let voters make these decisions, let the individual states make their abortion policy. And I think that’s what makes the most sense in a very big, a very diverse and let’s be honest, sometimes a very, very messy and divided country.
Walz was effective against Vance about Donald Trump and the 2020 election.
Tim Walz: He is still saying he didn’t lose the election. Did he lose the 2020 election?
J.D. Vance: Tim, I’m focused on the future. Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 Covid situation?
Tim Walz: That is damning. That is a damning non-answer.
Both sides can, with some justification, say that their guy had a good night. Were any minds changed last night? Probably not.
Thirty-four days to go.
