Vance, Walz meet in New York for debate

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – The first and only Vice Presidential Debate takes place Tuesday October 1 in New York City, hosted by CBS News. The debate is one of the final opportunities for both campaigns to gain some momentum with just five weeks until election day.

This year, the race for the White House is essentially a toss-up. Tuesday’s debate between Ohio Senator JD Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz could potentially give one of the two campaigns a much-needed boost.

For JD Vance, former President Trump’s running mate, Tuesday’s debate is an opportunity – to defend Donald Trump and his policies, attack the Democratic presidential ticket and to improve his image with voters.

Jacob Rubashkin is the deputy editor of Inside Elections.

“So Vance is going to have to play on two fronts as is Tim Walz, which is he’s going to have to try and advocate for Donald Trump and explain why he thinks Trump is the better option versus Kamala Harris, while also trying to address the issues that he has with his own favorability image with the American people, which is that he is seen as unpopular.”

Unpopular in part because of past comments that he made about so-called “childless cat ladies” and falsehoods that Vance amplified about Haitian migrants eating house pets in Springfield, Ohio. That has led to Vance’s net-negative unfavorability rating.

Tim Walz, meanwhile, is preparing for attacks on his liberal record as Minnesota’s governor, how he handled unrest in his state after George Floyd’s death, and misrepresentations that Walz made about his military record. But political analyst Jacob Rubashkin also expects Walz to go on the offensive.

“Walz has had no punishment whatsoever about being the attack dog for his team. He got his job as vice presidential nominee, in large part because he was willing to go out on TV during that abbreviated Veep stakes and go after Vance in very stark terms.”

Vice-presidential debates have historically not had a noticeable impact on US elections. But what Vance and Walz are hoping for is gaining some momentum from their 90-minute debate. Rubashkin notes that CBS News is expecting the candidates to fact-check each other.

“And so if there is something major that happens, everyone will be able to respond to it. I don’t think that that’s what we’re going to see. I don’t think that there’s going to be any sort of race altering development from this contest. But, it’s really the last opportunity if something like that was going to happen, for it to manifest.”

Tuesday’s debate is likely the final debate before election day. Vance and Walz will present their competing views on the economy, immigration and the on-going wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. They will also make their appeals to undecided voters – who will ultimately decide who will be America’s next president.