What to watch as Vance and Walz meet for vice presidential debate

Minnesota vice presidential candidates Governor Tim Walz (Democrat) and Senator JD Vance (Republican of Ohio) will face off this week in their only debate of the 2024 campaign cycle.

The CBS News event will take place Tuesday at 9 p.m. EDT at the network’s headquarters in New York. It will last 90 minutes, with two four-minute breaks. Candidates will not make opening statements and there will be no live hearing.

This could be the last White House debate of the election cycle, as former President Trump said he would not participate in another debate following his September 10 clash with Vice President Harris. to see the best candidates compete.

“CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan will moderate.

CBS News confirmed over the weekend that under the terms of the debate, moderators will not fact-check the candidates live, so it will be up to Walz and Vance to refute any false or misleading comments from their opponent.

For each candidate, the debate presents the biggest moment of their political career to date.

Harris holds a razor-thin lead in several key states, having eroded Trump’s broader advantage over President Biden since the outgoing president ended his re-election campaign. Nationally, Harris polls at 50.5 percent to Trump’s 45.8 percent, according to tracking from The Hill/Decision Desk headquarters.

Vance, 40, who has been in the Senate less than two years, has grappled with poor favorable ratings and scrutiny over past controversial statements that have been reignited since he joined. The latest polls have him averaging 48.6 percent unfavorable to 37.8 percent favorable, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ tracker.

Walz, 60, meanwhile, is under scrutiny because of his more liberal record, while Harris has struck a more moderate tone. Walz’s popularity is below 50 percent in polls, but unlike Vance, more voters have a favorable than unfavorable opinion of him. The latest polls give him an average of 43.6 percent favorable and 39.7 percent unfavorable, according to tracker The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.

In recent days, both campaigns have sought to temper expectations about the debate performances of their respective vice presidential candidates.

“Tim Walz is very good in debates. Really good,” Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters.

Meanwhile, sources close to Walz reportedly told CNN over the weekend that the former congressman described himself as bad at debate and said he was worried about facing Vance.

“She’s a strong person,” Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-D) told CNN. “He’s just not the lawyer-debater type. It’s not like he dreamed of debates when he was a freshman.

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