For those who don’t know, the last scheduled debate of the 2024 election season took place on Oct. 1 in New York City. Vice presidential candidates J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Tim Walz (D-MN) faced off to convince viewers to vote for their respective tickets in what has been possibly the most civil debate post-2012.
Call it Midwestern charm or the bare minimum of politics, but these guys got down to business explaining policies and making the presidential candidates look like they should be canonized as saints.
With very few interruptions and even some kind words exchanged where both candidates agreed with each other, each candidate did a great job. Walz even went so far as to say, “I believe Senator Vance wants to solve this” when discussing the epidemic of school shootings in the United States.
But with an election as paramount as this one, the two couldn’t help but get a little dirty. It’s crucial to know the difference between facts and fiction and sift through the niceties of the candidates to figure out what each person really says.
Take Vance, for example. When Trump was running for president in 2016, Vance called him “reprehensible” publicly and privately compared him to Adolf Hitler.
He has since had his “come-to-Jesus moment” and has transformed into a person willing to be a part of Trump’s inner circle. When confronted with this during the debate, he simply said “I was wrong.”
But he wasn’t. This isn’t anti-Trump rhetoric, it’s the truth. Audiences could see the lack of confidence that Vance has in Trump during the debate when he struggled to defend him.
He even went so far as to say “Sometimes, of course, I’ve disagreed with the President.” Vance has to remove himself from the language he used in 2016 if he wishes to remain in the good graces of the Republican nominee.
But I can’t help but wonder how much better Vance would fare if he bided his time and waited to run for president himself in later years. He’s refreshing and believable that he would not have lied so much if he wasn’t selling the Make America Great Again ideology, which he has vehemently disagreed with in the past.
It’s important to keep this in mind with the use of the “Kamala Administration” among the other times that Vance has been fact-checked. He’s proven to embellish on things such as immigration, climate change and Harris’ power.
He did not do this carelessly, though. Most voters do not know the actual duties of the vice president and their own lack of power. Doing this, Vance can rely on Biden’s disapproval polls to steer voters away from a Harris presidency. He also can be flexible with the truth to gain the trust of Republican Americans who find Trump too extreme, defending his decision to stand with him.
This is especially true when Vance refused to admit that Trump lost the 2020 presidency, but has told viewers that he will help Walz in whatever way that he can should Harris win. The election takes a dark turn as Walz notes that there is a reason that former Vice President Pence was not up on stage, recalling how the Jan. 6 crowd was shouting for him to be hanged.
Walz showed a more unified front with his devotion to Harris, and it’s important to note that Walz tested many of Harris’ policies in Minnesota such as housing and healthcare, attesting to their success.
This is perhaps the most compelling part of Walz’s rhetoric. He knows that it works with Harris, and continually sings her praises in a way that comes off as genuine and sincere. He also utilizes words like “folks” often to show Americans that he is just like any of us. Vance does this as well, incredibly successfully.
But he was shaky in the beginning, which hurt the confidence of the audience. Walz also admits to lying about when he was in Hong Kong in the summer of 1989.
He admits to lying in a very roundabout way where watchers don’t actually know what he is getting at until he calls himself a “knucklehead.” These seem to be the main criticisms of Walz and both candidates showed conviction when the other lacked it., It’s also important to remember that Walz had less to defend because he was always a staunch defender of Harris and the Democratic candidates over the years.
There was much more to learn here about politics and policies than the times the actual presidential candidates have gone head-to-head. This debate instilled much more confidence in Americans than in the previous presidential debates, with candidates showing preparedness, cohesion and respect.
It’s chiefly important to remember that Vance and Walz are ultimately salesmen. And do your research to ensure that what they are selling actually works.
