Sen. J. D. Vance (R-OH) and Tim Walz (D-MN) mouth off on Tuesday in New York, a contest that may attract a few more ears than unusual in a very tightly contested competition.
For one, the candidates for president of the GOP, Donald Trump, and Kamala Harris, vice president, have only had one debate, compared to the typical three, which gives citizens fewer opportunities to see the candidates face-to-face.
However, Harris is a relative anonymous who became a member in July and has since run a meticulous plan, which has heightened interest in Walz’s look. Vance, 40, may represent the future of the MAGA movement since Trump, 78, may remain term-limited even if he wins.
” Generally, vice president debates are n’t consequential. Usually you just hope they do n’t say anything wrong”, David Schultz, a political professor at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, said. ” But I think this one is a little more consequential given the closeness of this race, and the fact that many voters do n’t really know who Harris is, Walz is, or Vance is.”
A last consideration is that this could be the last conversation of any kind before Election Day. The vice president debate typically takes place between three presidential showdowns, but this does n’t seem to be the case this year, as Trump has claimed he has done, leaving voters with fewer unscripted data points to choose from.
” A few people may get saying,’ Trump is getting kind of older, what if something happens to him? What’s Vance like?’ or ‘ I do n’t know much about Harris. Let me know if Walz says anything about who she is, Schultz said. A couple thousand votes may affect the outcome of the election in a race that is so near.
More than 50 million people attended the 2020 vice presidential debate between Harris and then-Vice President Mike Pence, according to Nielsen Media Research, which may have been boosted by the pandemic lockdowns that kept people inside.
The 2020 ratings easily surpassed those seen in 2016, when Pence faced Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA ) before an audience of 35 million.
Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist, said Walz’s career will not be to strike Vance. Instead, it will be to strike Trump, the president on the criticism party’s ticket. Also, he says Vance’s work will be to strike Harris rather than Walz.
” That’s what you do in the vice presidential debate”, he said. ” You use it as an option to go after the top-of-the-ticket prospects”.
Bannon anticipates that Vance will launch an aggressive attack on Walz, but he believes the trick is to “restrain himself enough so he does n’t interfere with Vance saying incendiary and stupid things,” rather than to strike back.
During their most recent disputes, both Vance and Walz engaged in heated marketplaces. Vance tussled with his 2022 player, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), over issues such as immigration and contraception, while Walz stared down his election opponent, Scott Jensen, over COVID-19 shutdowns and energy plan, among other things.
Even if neither prospect enters the argument looking to deliver a decisive blow, things could turn unpleasant again this time.
John Feehery, a Republican strategist, says the key for Vance will be trying to paint Walz, and by extension Harris, as someone who ca n’t be trusted, while Walz will try to convince voters that Vance is “weird” and extreme.
” The major problem will get Walz lying about Vance and Trump’s record”, he said. ” Walz, like Harris, is an exceptionally good liar, and I do n’t know if Vance will be ready for it. And most likely, the editors may become tipping the scales in the Walz course”.
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The vice presidential debate, scheduled for 9 p.m. southeast day on CBS on Tuesday, could sway just enough citizens in this contentious presidential debate to change the outcome. Or, per Republican planner Doug Heye, it may not.
” The competition is all about Trump vs. Harris. The undercard just is n’t registering for voters”, Heye said. ” But that wo n’t stop DCers from overanalyzing it,” the saying goes.
