With the Harris-Trump debate in the books, vice presidential candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Walz are scheduled to go head-to-head on Tuesday, Oct. 1, in possibly the highest-tension vice presidential debate of any election season.
As extensions of the presidential candidates’ platforms, vice presidential debates can be used to either reinforce or hinder a party’s campaign ticket, but usually have little influence on election results.
However, as both presidential candidates desperately want to jolt their campaigns, the Vance-Walz debate may impact undecided voters more than one might expect.
American voters have very little time to get accustomed to the replaced Democratic presidential ticket after President Biden announced the end of his reelection campaign in July.
In an article from the Washington Examiner, political professor David Schultz at Hamline University posits the little amount voters know about the Democratic ticket makes this vice presidential debate more important than past ones.
“‘Generally, vice president debates aren’t consequential. Usually you just hope they don’t say anything wrong … But given the closeness of this race, the fact that a lot of voters don’t really know who Harris is, who Walz is, or who Vance is, I think that makes this one a little bit more consequential.’”
An article from CNN echoed the same sentiment, adding Walz was under significant pressure to make a last-ditch effort to enrich the Harris campaign to voters.
“And the pressure is even higher, when for the first time in modern campaign history, the vice presidential debate Tuesday is likely to be the last marquee event before Election Day.
“With many voters still saying they don’t know enough about Harris, it could be up to Walz to help convince them to trust a vice president he barely knew himself before she picked him.”
The Harris campaign’s scarce policy information and dodging of most media engagement puts Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz on track to be the lowest interviewed candidates in history, with only six sit downs for the vice president, per the New York Post.
Additionally, the Democratic candidates did a joint interview on CNN, which led to a large amount of scrutiny in the following weeks towards Walz when asked about his contradictory military past, causing voters to re-think where their trust may be placed.
The Washington Examiner details the “stolen valor” controversy which has entrenched Walz since the CNN interview and might severely discredit any image he is aiming to pose in the vice presidential debate:
“His flirtation with the truth began in 2016 when he participated in a CSPAN discussion about then-President Barack Obama‘s push to reduce troop levels overseas. He was incorrectly introduced by the host who said Walz ‘enlisted in the Army National Guard at 17 and retired 24 years later as Command Sergeant Major’ and ‘served with his battalion in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.’
“Despite Walz nodding in agreement, he served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Italy, not Afghanistan.”
However, Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance is also receiving pushback due to his stiff demeanor. Criticism has dug at the Ohio senator’s lack of ability to balance Trump’s aggression by being too aggressive himself.
“[Vance] has been repeatedly knocked for being too aggressive and awkward and has done little to balance the Trump ticket,” per the Washington Examiner.
Amy Koch, former Republican senate majority leader in Minnesota, commented in the same Examiner article, how Vance’s reckless aggression hurts the GOP ticket heading into the vice presidential debate.
“‘It’s kind of like a marriage,’ Koch said. ‘If you’re too much alike, you don’t make up for the other’s deficiencies.’”
It seems both candidates are aiming to prove themselves in one of the most dramatic election cycles since John F. Kennedy’s narrow victory against Richard Nixon in 1960.
With Vance fighting an uphill battle against his aggressive tactics and Walz fighting a downhill battle against contradictions, America is left to watch as the Trump and Harris campaigns make one last effort before November to plead their case to the people.
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