Tuesday night, JD Vance and Tim Walz argued about policies in a mostly friendly vice presidential debate. The debate gave both campaigns a chance to gain support in a race where polls haven’t changed much.
Since July, when she took over for President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris has had a small but steady lead in national polls. She got a little boost in the polls after the discussion with Trump, when she was seen as the winner. But the race is still close in the key states that will decide the winner.
The discussion took place during a very rough week at home and around the world. A lot of the Southeastern U.S. was destroyed by Hurricane Helene, including the important swing states of Georgia and North Carolina.
In other parts of the world, things are getting very tense in the Middle East, where a war between Iran and Israel is getting worse and could surprise everyone in October.
At the same time, dockworkers on strike for a long time at ports all along the East Coast could mess up supply chains at the worst possible time for the Biden government.
Usually, there would be at least two or three debates between presidential candidates, with one coming after the vice presidential discussion. The 2024 race is a bit different in this way. So far, Trump and Harris have only debated one time, and Trump has turned down another chance to question Harris.
So, the vice presidential discussion might have been the last chance for the campaigns to tell the whole country about their ideas for the country on things like immigration, the economy, foreign policy, and abortion.
Here are five important things to remember from the vice presidential debate on Tuesday night.
Vance and Walz Do No Harm in Policy-Focused Debate
The Harris-Trump debate, which happened just a few weeks before the Vance-Walz debate, was very different. In that debate, the two presidential candidates attacked each other personally a lot, but they weren’t very clear about their plans for the country.
Vance and Walz, on the other hand, had a more civil and policy-focused discussion. They both said that they thought the other person wanted to fix problems, like immigration or gun violence, but they didn’t agree on how to do it.
As the saying goes, “do no harm” during vice presidential debates. Neither candidate made any big mistakes that could hurt their team in November.
For instance, they fought over the specifics of a bipartisan border bill that would have given more money and resources for border security but was blocked by Trump. They talked about the legal ways to lower the number of border crosses. At one point, CBS News cut off their microphones because the argument got heated—that was the only time that night that the mics were cut.
Vance and Walz both criticized the policies of their opponents, but they mostly avoided making personal charges.
Some policy problems, like wanting to build more homes and protectionism in trade, were even shared by both parties. For example, they both opposed policies that let companies send U.S. jobs abroad.
Toward the end of the debate, Vance said, “I quite agree with Tim Walz.” “We should get out of the idea of housing as a commodity.”
Along other lines, Walz said, “Senator Vance and I are that far apart” when it comes to giving the government more help for childcare choices like community and church-based ones.
At the end, when the discussion went to democracy and what happened on January 6, 2021, things did get tense. Walz said that he and Vance were “miles apart” on the riot at the Capitol that day. He called Vance’s attempt to change the subject to censorship a “damning non-answer.”
Vance Stays on Message, a Contrast to His Running Mate
Since he was Trump’s attack dog on the campaign trail, Vance has made a name for himself as a loud Republican in the Senate. But he toned down his fiery speech on Tuesday night, putting on a more polished and TV-friendly show to try to win over moderates while his approval numbers were falling.
Unlike Trump, who famously gave in when Harris brought up the size of his crowd during the debate against Harris, Vance stuck to the topics and didn’t fall into Walz’s traps.
Vance often linked his policies to his hard childhood and his own experiences as a poor child in Appalachia, just like Harris did. When asked about reproductive rights, which are a big weakness for Republicans, he famously linked it to a friend who had an abortion.
Vance uses the war in the Middle East to remind voters of what they liked about Trump.
The debate began with a discussion of strategy in the Middle East. This happened just hours after Iran launched its biggest direct attack against Israel ever, when Israeli forces moved into southern Lebanon. The new round of fighting could change the race in its last few weeks, and Trump’s claim that President Biden and, by extension, Vice President Harris have made the world less safe could help the Republican ticket.
During the talk of foreign policy, Walz quickly attacked Trump’s foreign policy, trying to remind voters of what many saw as the chaos in his administration by saying that Trump was tweeting through several international crises.
“When Donald Trump was president, he led a group of countries that limited Iran’s nuclear power.” It was taken away by Donald Trump, and nothing else was put in its place, he said.
Vance had a defense ready. He said that Trump brought “peace through strength” and steady leadership, and that he was the only president in recent memory who didn’t start any new wars in other countries.
Both candidates also said they supported Israel. Vance said he would let the Israelis decide if they needed to hit Iran first, which was the original question that the moderators asked.
It was clear that Walz did not answer that question.
Vance Delivers to His Audience of One
Some political experts were confused when Trump chose Vance, a former fierce opponent of Trump, as his running mate. It’s no secret that Trump values loyalty above all else. But since then, Vance has become Trump’s most powerful attack dog in the media and on the campaign road. He did a great job broadcasting for the former president on Tuesday night. Trump praised him when he reacted to the debate on social media in real time.
Vance often said nice things about Trump. He said that his border policy had cut down on illegal crossings and praised his “wisdom and courage” to bring jobs back from overseas and his record on healthcare. He did this in a less sycophantic way than former Vice President Mike Pence often did.
“He has a record to be proud of,” Vance said about the person who is running with him.
Trump was happy with Vance’s performance during the discussion, as shown in a series of posts on Truth Social.
“The FACTS just CRUSHED Tampon Tim, JD Vance. “America was GREAT when I was President, and we will make it great again if we win on November 5,” he wrote in another.
Walz Tacks to the Center
People in swing states like the Midwest and Rust Belt gave Walz the debate as a chance to win over moderate and independent votes. It was the more moderate parts of both his plan and Harris’ record that he brought up.
He said nice things about Harris’s backing for the bipartisan border bill and a “all-above energy policy.” But he mostly avoided defending her more liberal views on things like abortion and immigration.
Harris wants to win over moderate independents and Republicans who will never support Trump. The debate approach helps her reach those goals.
When the subject of gun control came up, Walz made it clear that he and Harris both back “reasonable” measures and that they both own guns.
There are good things we can do to change things. “It doesn’t go against the Second Amendment,” he said.
Walz was chosen in part to appeal to voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which are known as the “Blue Wall” states and are Harris’ best bet for an Electoral College win. And the governor of Minnesota made sure to talk about his roots in the Midwest whenever he could, just like Vance, who was also born and raised in the Midwest.
