The attack dog and the folk hero: Vance and Walz prepare for a confrontation in the debate

Tim Walz and JD Vance, the US Democratic and Republican candidates for the vice presidency, will face each other on Tuesday in what will likely be the final debate match between the two parties’ electoral tickets before Election Day in exactly five weeks.

The pair – who have had sharp words with each other from a distance – will engage in a verbal battle up close at a CBS-hosted event in New York, with the stakes raised by polling evidence showing the battle between the two presidential candidates. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, balancing on the edge.

As Trump, the Republican candidate, continues to reject demands from Harris, his Democratic opponent, for a second presidential debate, much could depend on how the clash between Walz and Vance unfolds.

The 90-minute match will have added spice after Walz, the 60-year-old governor of Minnesota, memorably described Vance as “weird” while naming him as a key architect of Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for a radical upheaval of the world. American government and society that would crack down on immigration, destroy LGBTQ+ and abortion rights, reduce environmental protections, overhaul financial policies, and take aggressive action against China.

Vance, 40, an Ohio senator who has reinvented himself as a political attack dog for Trump despite discrediting him before entering politics, has hit back by portraying his opponent as a far-left liberal and calling him accusing him of serially misrepresenting aspects of his military service in the National Guard.

He also hurled the “weird” joke at Walz after the Democratic vice presidential nominee said his children were born using IVF — which Vance once voted against as a senator — before it emerged that he and his wife had done so. used another form of fertility treatment.

The potential for fireworks could be further increased by the fact that CBS’s rules prevent the moderators, Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, from vetting the candidates in real time — as happened during last month’s ABC debate between Harris and Trump in Philadelphia. Instead, the two men are expected to fact-check each other.

Vance joins the debate and arguably has more to gain. Since his election as Trump’s running mate, his approval ratings have been consistently negative, amid a series of revelations about derogatory comments about childless women, whom he called “childless cat ladies.”

He has also attracted attention for his role in promoting a debunked rumor about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating pets, before later telling CNN – unashamedly – that the story was “made up” for the purpose of drawing attention on ‘the suffering of the American people’.

Amid the shame, the Yale-educated Vance — who has been preparing for the debate by holding rehearsals with a small team that includes House Republican whip Tom Emmer, who plays Walz, and his wife , Usha, as an advisor – came to prominence by embracing the role of articulator of Trump’s fiercely anti-immigrant America-first populism.

Walz, on the other hand, has polled more encouragingly but has maintained a subdued stance since Harris chose him as her running mate after he was promoted to the top of the Democratic list following Joe Biden’s decision to step aside in July.

He has given few media interviews, settling for a lower profile after the sharp attacks on Vance and other Maga Republicans that first came to national attention this summer — and prompted Harris to select him.

Walz, who projects an image of folksiness, has admitted he was nervous about Tuesday’s debate as he prepared with the help of Pete Buttigieg, the Transportation Secretary. He has expressed fears to colleagues that he would let Harris down and reportedly warned her when she picked him that he was a poor debater.

While there is little evidence historically that vice presidential debates influence the outcome of presidential elections, past encounters have been notable for providing memorable moments and sound bites.

In 2020, Harris herself was the source of it when she told Mike Pence – Vance’s predecessor as Trump’s running mate and then the vice president – after he interrupted her. She said, “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking.”

In the 1988 vice presidential debate, Lloyd Bentsen, running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, had a ready retort when Dan Quayle, the Republican candidate behind George HW Bush, was questioned at the age of 41 – a year older than Vance. . about his relative youth, responded by appealing to John F Kennedy.

“Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy,” Bentsen replied. “I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are not Jack Kennedy.”