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In recent weeks, Tim Walz's team has tried to lower expectations for his debate with rival J.D. Vance. Now I understand why.
Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate and governor of Minnesota, did not perform disastrously on the debate stage, but he was clearly inferior to Sen. Vance of Ohio. Trump supporters who have questioned the young Ohio senator's qualifications for the nation's second-largest office and asked why the former president chose him as his running mate Tuesday night I slept well. He was sharp, engaging, and policy-savvy. Most importantly, Vance completely reversed the media's unflattering characterization of him as a sympathetic, respectful, and likable person.
Vance had the advantage of holding dozens of press conferences in recent weeks. He was ready and tested. By contrast, Walz has had little unscripted media contact since becoming the Democratic vice presidential nominee. His inability to go beyond the talking points and delve deeper into policy was not surprising.
Vance, Walz Vice Presidential Candidate Debate Ends With Both Candidates Advocating a 'New' Future
Walz spent much of the discussion talking about programs such as paid family leave, which he claims have been successfully enacted in Minnesota. All he had to do Tuesday night was make the case for vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Several times during the nearly two-hour debate, Mr. Vance asked the most salient question that Mr. Trump also posed during the debate. Harris has been in the White House for the past three and a half years, so why isn't she advancing the policies she currently claims will solve the nation's problems?
Similar to the ABC presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the CBS News hosts were embarrassed by their apparent support for the Democratic candidate. Moreover, CBS's Margaret Brennan and Norah O'Donnell influenced the school's Marmish tone in their eagerness to chaperone the debates, which were very orderly discussions.
Their questions focused on well-worn Democratic priorities (climate change, abortion) and largely avoided topics that could be advantageous to Mr. Vance, such as crime. O'Donnell challenged the senator about Trump's earlier calling of climate change a “hoax” and then baselessly claimed that “the overwhelming consensus is that climate change is happening.”
Walz repeats falsehoods about Georgia abortion deaths that doctors deny as 'fear-mongering'
Additionally, despite saying they do not fact-check candidates, the two women intervened multiple times to question Mr. Vance's responses, but only once against Mr. Walz. .
Unfortunately for the Minnesota governor, that one probing question was disastrous. Asked why he lied about being in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, Walz recounted his experience traveling to China in a series of words that would make Kamala Harris proud. When asked again why he had lied, Walz appeared stunned by the misfire. In effect, he was able to see through the lie. This didn't help as he had a history of fabricating lies about his past, especially his military rank.
Like Walz, Vance had intended to argue the case for his running mate, and he did. When the moderator and Walz mocked Trump's claim during the presidential debate that he had a “concept of a plan” on health care, Vance said Trump doesn't have a plan and has a record. . He reminded the audience multiple times that night that during Trump's presidency, inflation was low, borders were closed and the world was at peace.
Kamala Harris takes desperate action on critical issues to save sinking operation
When host Margaret Brennan pressed Vance to explain why Trump abandoned the Iran nuclear deal and allowed a terrorist state to accelerate nuclear weapons production, Vance said that over the past three years Harris and Biden have been at odds. He pointed out that charging. He correctly pointed out that not imposing Trump sanctions helped rebuild Iran's war-making capabilities and allowed the mullahs to increase their income by $100 billion. Vance's reference to the Reagan-Trump principle of peace through strength resonated because Iran had just attacked Israel with 180 missiles.
While Walz reiterated Harris' vague promises to improve the lives of middle-class families, Vance told the audience that while take-home pay rose and inflation was low under the Trump administration, Harris It was a reminder that everything from food to housing has become more expensive under his administration than before. 20%. When Walz claimed that economists favored Harris' plan over Trump's, Vance replied that Trump's team had no Ph.D.s and common sense. .
When Walz accused President Trump of wanting to enact import tariffs that would be new taxes on Americans, Vance congratulated President Joe Biden on keeping the former president's tariffs on China and addressed the issue. Soothed.
Several times during the nearly two-hour debate, Mr. Vance asked the most salient question that Mr. Trump also posed during the debate. Harris has been in the White House for the past three and a half years, so why isn't she advancing the policies she currently claims will solve the nation's problems?
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Vance noted that Harris had been boasting for three years that she would roll back all the restrictions put in place by President Trump, a clear victory in the border fight. When Mr. Brennan challenged Mr. Vance about how President Trump handles family separations during deportations, Mr. Vance said that the Department of Homeland Security is not responsible for people brought across the border illegally. He cited a damning report that says more than 320,000 children have been lost to trace. From Harris's Open Borders.
Naturally, the topic of abortion sparked a heated debate. Mr. Vance criticized the Minnesota law that Mr. Walz signed. The law does not require doctors to do everything necessary to care for babies who survive late-term abortions. Waltz disputed that characterization, but Vance was right. Meanwhile, Walz accused Vance of previously supporting a 15-week national abortion ban. Vance explained that he shares Trump's view that states are responsible for setting regulations.
The candidates also sparred on other topics, with predictable abuse directed at each other's running mate, but both remained calm and said they had common ground on some issues, such as school safety. They even agreed that it was more likely to be found. This was a highly beneficial event for American voters, especially given Harris-Waltz's strategy to avoid scrutiny and hide progressive policies.
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The winner of the night was, without a doubt, JD Vance. Does it matter? After all, while many claim no one will vote for vice president, voters are telling pollsters they don't have enough of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. .
Now they know more, and based on Tuesday night's performance, Vance may have won over some people's hearts. The race will be a dead heat, so everything will be important.
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