What Vance, Walz need to do to win Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate

Vance in particular has the potential to be a polarizing figure onstage, since he’s one of the most unpopular vice-presidential candidates in modern history and has helped galvanize some on the left for his past comments denigrating “childless cat ladies” and immigrants. “Look at vice-presidential debates as ways to create momentum or blunt momentum,” added Jim Kessler, a Democratic strategist with the center-left think tank Third Way. “You don’t score touchdowns in vice-presidential debates, but you can gain yards or you can lose yards.” Advertisement Here’s what each candidate needs to do to win the debate — and maybe score a few hard-fought points in an extraordinarily close race. Both have to hype — and probably defend — their bosses Former president Donald Trump had a rough debate last month, missing opportunities to try to pin Vice President Kamala Harris to unpopular Biden administration policies. “Unlike his partner on the ticket, Vance needs to be disciplined,” said Stan Barnes, a former Republican Arizona state senator. Walz will probably be singularly focused on promoting Harris to undecided voters, particularly men who might be on the fence about voting for the first Black and Indian American woman to top the ballot. Advertisement “It seems to be that Walz acts in an appropriately deferential way when the two of them are campaigning together, and that underscores the fact she is the Democratic Party leader,” said Goldstein, the vice-presidential scholar. “And that as far as he’s concerned, that’s exactly how it should be.” Vance needs to explain his past comments about Trump Before he became a U.S. senator in 2023, Vance was extraordinarily critical of Trump, calling him “reprehensible,” “cultural heroin” and possibly “America’s Hitler.” He has since said Trump’s presidency won him over. But even at the end of Trump’s presidency, Vance was harshly criticizing his now-running mate. The Washington Post reported that in private Twitter messages in 2020, Vance said that Trump “thoroughly failed to deliver” on his economic agenda, and he predicted Joe Biden would win that year’s election. It’s a tough position for Vance to be in, especially since he’ll also be focused on winning Trump’s praise, a task all Trump acolytes seem to be focused on when they’re in the spotlight. Although Walz has made a name for himself during public appearances, too: He got the vice-presidential nomination after referring to Republicans as “weird.” Vance may need to address his false claims about immigration When Trump falsely said while debating Harris that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating cats and dogs, he had plucked that information from Vance, who threw out the possibility on social media a day earlier. Advertisement But on Tuesday, Vance could be stuck responding to questions about his falsehoods on immigrants eating pets in Springfield instead of being able to focus on border issues more broadly, including how they’re changing some communities — much safer territory for a Republican. “There’s a real problem for a small community to handle that many immigrants all at one time,” said former Wisconsin Republican state senator Kathy Bernier, who will be closely watching how this debate moves voters in her key swing state. Walz needs to appeal to voters just tuning in Walz embodies the Midwestern style that Harris’s campaign hopes will attract exurban voters in must-win states such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. That’s because while both he and Harris embrace liberal policies, Walz — a gun owner and former football coach — grew up in rural America and wears camouflage. On the campaign trail, he’s leaned into his “aw-shucks” personality. “It’s nobody’s darn business,” Walz said at a rally earlier this month while speaking about abortion rights. While he has debated at the state level, insiders said he’s worried about letting the campaign down. He has worked with a Democratic majority in the state Capitol to enact liberal policies: protecting rights to abortion and gender-transition care, helping move the state toward clean energy, restoring voting rights for felons, expanding background checks for gun purchases, legalizing recreational marijuana, allowing undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses, and instituting free tuition for low-income residents, free public school meals, and paid family and medical leave. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/01/vance-walz-vice-presidential-debate-what-to-watch/