On Tuesday evening in New York City, two ex-soldiers from the Midwest, one a Catholic convert, the other a lapsed Catholic, took the stage at the first and only vice-presidential debate. 

The selection of both Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as VP nominees was met with initial fanfare.

But both saw their stars dim in the proceeding weeks and months following unearthed media clips. Vance, whose “childless cat lady” controversy helped him earn the lowest approval rating of any running mate this century, kept his head down during more than a hundred interviews, including many in hostile territory. Walz, whose previous claims about having “carried weapons in war” and other suspect statements about his military service tarnished his image as a plain-spoken everyman, receded into the campaign’s background, failing to offer even a single one-on-one interview to the press. 

Vance’s decision to stay in front of the camera and field tough questions doubtless helped him pull off his debate performance Tuesday night. 

“He had strong control of the facts,” said one of 14 participants in a CNN focus group following the debate, which showed Vance winning among the group 12-2. “He ran the show. He humanized himself.” 

Appearing congenial and confident, Vance succeeded in casting Vice President Kamala Harris — who has run as an insurgent attempting to “turn the page” and chart “a new way forward” — as the incumbent by consistently referring to the record of the Biden-Harris administration (which Vance repeatedly called the “Harris administration,” to great effect). On the economy and border policy, which are the issues of highest concern for both Catholic voters and the general public, Vance effectively saddled the Harris-Walz ticket with the Biden administration’s governing performance, placing Walz on the defense for most of the evening. 

As for coach Walz, he appeared overwhelmed and nervous through much of the evening, leading many political analysts to question his level of preparation for the debate — and even his fitness for the office of the vice presidency. Some, including figures on news outlets normally friendly to the Harris campaign, such as MSNBC’s Jen Psaki, questioned the Harris campaign’s decision to limit Walz’s media appearances since being tapped as running mate, while others openly suggested that a different VP pick, particularly Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, would have been made more sense.

 

Vance Masters the Art of the Pivot

Among the most notable takeaways from the evening was the effectiveness of Vance’s performance, which has been described by expert observers as “masterful” and “flawless.” Indeed, Vance’s presentation as a humble intellectual from Appalachia, which he burnished with a crisply delivered biographical response to the first question, contrasted sharply with the media’s depiction of the VP hopeful as an unhinged MAGA radical over the past two months. And despite the evident bias of the moderators toward his opponent — despite agreeing to not “fact-check,” the CBS moderators couldn’t help themselves when it came to Vance, and when he tried to respond, they cut his mic — Vance was able to control and guide the discussion in a way that framed issues in a manner favorable to Republicans.

On the question of “family separation” at the border, Vance spoke about the “320,000 children that the Department of Homeland Security has effectively lost” due to “Kamala Harris’ wide-open southern border.” 

On the topic of abortion, Vance made Walz defend a 2015 bill he signed in Minnesota that places a doctor under no obligation to treat a baby born alive following a botched abortion, calling it “fundamentally barbaric.” 

“I want us, as a Republican Party, to be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word,” Vance said. “I want us to support fertility treatments. I want us to make it easier for moms to afford to have babies. I want us to make it easier for young families to afford a home, so they can afford a place to raise that family.” 

On the economy, Vance pivoted quickly from debating the purpose of tax cuts to the rising cost of living in the Biden years, particularly regarding food, gas and home prices. And on the question about Jan. 6, 2021, and the state of democracy, Vance pivoted to the subject of government censorship during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Kamala Harris is engaged in censorship at an industrial scale,” Vance said. “She did it during COVID; she’s done it over a number of other issues. And that, to me, is a much bigger threat to democracy than what Donald Trump said when he said that protesters should peacefully protest on Jan. 6.”

The performance demonstrated remarkable growth for Vance as a political performer and erased memories of him hunkering down on fringe topics at the outset of his selection as Trump’s running mate. He seemed unable to pivot then, but last night he did so ably. 

Common wisdom suggests that VP debates don’t drastically alter the shape of a given race. But last night’s performance will almost certainly alter the 2028 GOP presidential primary, in which Vance will be a strong favorite no matter what happens this November. The ability to speak MAGA to the suburbs is seen as the Holy Grail of the current political climate, and that’s just what Vance accomplished last night. 

 

Walz’s Past Fib Causes a Major Flub

National debates are more often remembered for the “big moments” they produce more than for the substance. For instance, very few, if any, remember the content of the 1988 vice-presidential debate between Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle, but many remember Bentsen turning to his younger opponent at one point and saying, “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

If last night’s collegial and policy-heavy debate provided any moments that will linger in the collective memory, it was Walz’s flailing response to being questioned about past claims he’d made about being in China during the pro-democracy protests in 1989 that ended with a deadly massacre in Tiananmen Square. Multiple reports surfaced on Tuesday that Walz had not, in fact, been in China at that time. 

The discrepancy between Walz’s past statements and the facts is but another in a string of incidents in which the governor has demonstrated a tenuous relationship with the straight truth. In August, Walz admitted he “misspoke” when he said that he had carried weapons “in war” despite never seeing combat in either Afghanistan or Iraq. He has also drawn scrutiny for misstating his rank and allowing himself to be introduced at various events as a “combat veteran.”

When asked about reports that contradict his account of being in China at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Walz, appearing dazed, attempted to dodge the question with a biographical account of what had led him to travel to China so often as a young teacher. When pressed for a more specific answer, Walz called himself a “knucklehead at times” and said that he “misspoke.”

The moment immediately went viral on social media and has dominated much of the media discussion in the aftermath. 

Walz began many of his answers by sounding a note of agreement with Vance, a fact that caused great consternation among progressives who were upset that Walz’s friendly approach may have “normalized” Vance and, by extension, Trump.

After a rocky initial 30 minutes, Walz appeared steadier as the evening wore on and managed to put Vance on his heels momentarily on the question of Jan. 6.

“I think there’s a lot of agreement. But this is one that we are miles apart on,” Walz said of Jan. 6 toward the end of the evening. “This was a threat to our democracy in a way that we had not seen. And it manifested itself because of Donald Trump’s inability to say — he is still saying he didn’t lose the election.”

In the aftermath of the debate, the Harris campaign has announced that Walz will embark on an aggressive, weeklong media blitz, which will include national media interviews, an appearance on a major late-night TV show, and one on a top pop-culture podcast. 

The campaign said, “With just over 30 days until the election, the Harris-Walz ticket is entering the final stretch of the campaign aggressively, with a robust travel and media schedule to ensure that every American voter knows what’s on the line in November.”