Rozina Sabur
Deputy US Editor
01 October 2024 3:00pm
Tim Walz and JD Vance’s debate on Tuesday night offers voters their sole opportunity to see the two men who could be the next US vice-president face each other on stage.
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s running mates will go head-to-head for 90 minutes starting from 9pm Eastern Time on CBS News.
Neither Mr Walz nor Mr Vance are very well known to the American public, so their one and only debate offers a rare opportunity to introduce themselves to millions of Americans.
The Minnesota governor and the Ohio senator were both selected by their party leaders with the aim of appealing to one group in particular.
As white men from the American heartlands, both candidates may hope to hone their pitch to white working class voters in the so-called “blue wall states”.
Three critical states in the Rust Belt — Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — offer both the Republicans and Democrats a road back to the White House.
Here are a few key things to watch for on Tuesday night.
Is Tim Walz as bad as he claims?
When Ms Harris was vetting Mr Walz as a potential running mate, the Minnesota governor reportedly made a startling admission: he was a bad debater.
Mr Vance is far more experienced under the glare of the studio lights, routinely appearing on cable news to promote the Republican agenda.
The Ohio senator, 40, honed his cross-examination skills as a law student at Yale University.
While he spent more than a decade serving in Congress and nearly six as governor, Mr Walz has had very little preparation for the White House race he found himself thrust into less than two months ago.
He has been studiously preparing for his moment in the primetime TV spotlight by closely following Mr Vance’s past performances and rehearsing with mock sessions.
But insiders claim Mr Walz remains nervous he will disappoint Ms Harris by failing to meet expectations.
It remains to be seen whether Mr Walz is as poor a debate performer as he has claimed.
Will JD Vance reprise his attack-dog role?
If Mr Walz, 60, espouses the “Minnesota nice” stereotype, his Republican rival is perhaps best known for being an effective attack-dog for the Trump campaign.
Pundits predict Mr Vance could flay his opponent’s “dad vibe” persona, either by painting him as naive or as an out-of-touch liberal.
Mr Vance is also likely to be particularly ferocious on Mr Walz’s record.
The Minnesota governor has been accused of deceiving voters after acknowledging he misspoke when discussing his military service.
As a fellow veteran, Mr Vance may feel well positioned to take advantage of that.
Mr Walz has also signed a string of progressive policies into law in Minnesota, where Democrats control the state legislature, which Mr Vance is likely to highlight.
Trump’s play-by-play of the night
When Mr Vance is on stage, he will ostensibly be pitching himself to undecided voters in the critical swing states.
But in many ways, he’ll be addressing an audience of one, with Trump promising to closely follow his running mate’s performance.
The former president revealed on Monday that he planned to do a “personal play by play” of the debate “between the Brilliant JD Vance and the Highly Inarticulate ‘Tampon’ Tim Walz”, he said.
Offered a flavour of what is to come, he continued: “I hope that Cognitively Challenged, Lyin’ Kamala Harris, will be listening so that she can again show the world how she will make up false facts and stories in order to change around an administrative FAILURE!”
Mr Walz, meanwhile, may be hoping to provoke Trump into a tirade.
He may point to Mr Vance’s past attacks on the man he now hopes to serve in the White House alongside — such as once calling Trump “America’s Hitler” and likening his brand of populism to “cultural heroin”.
Will it move the needle at all?
Perhaps the biggest thing to watch for on Tuesday night is whether it changes the dynamics at all, in a White House race that looks set to come down to the wire.
Historically, vice-presidential debates have done very little to alter the trajectory of a race.
And yet, with fewer than 40 days until election day on Nov 5, the debate between Mr Vance and Mr Walz is one of the last major opportunities for both campaigns to sell their message.
A major blunder, or a viral moment, by either candidate could prove to be critical in an election when undecided voters will ultimately decide who controls the White House.
The post What to watch out for as JD Vance and Tim Walz take part in vice-presidential debate appeared first on The Telegraph.
