Tied, for now

T he biggest word in presidential politics this year is also the smallest: Tie. The polls nationally are tied. The battleground states are tied. Even the vice-presidential debate last night was “tied.” At least, that’s what the pundits are calling it.

While Veep Debates haven’t ever made a big difference in presidential elections they sometimes have produced some memorable one liners (See Sen. Lloyd Bentsen’s “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”).

No such memorable lines on Tuesday night.

The “debate” is being described as Midwestern Nice because of the participants’ home states. They were (Gosh, Almighty!) civil to each other!

Gov. Tim Walz clearly was off at the beginning of the debate. He looked Midwestern Nervous from the git-go. The first question was on the day’s events in the Middle East. Clearly, this was a question that was gone over and over the day of the debate in preparation and responses were determined.

Still. Walz looked caught in the headlights by the question. It was not a good start, especially against an opponent who is a transplanted Midwesterner, Yale-educated, a lawyer, and a U.S. senator with all of about two years of experience.

Walz began to hit stride when the questions moved to abortion. He was ready with specific examples and names of women who have (being Midwestern nice about it) suffered from the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Suffered, meaning some have died because their healthcare choices were taken away.

Sen. J.D. Vance, Trump’s Chosen One, wasn’t the constant attack dog he’s been on the trail and has had lots of practice defending the impossible since his transformation from calling Trump “Hitler” to becoming his goose-stepping dance partner.

Let’s just mention two lies he told. One, he said Trump “saved” Obamacare despite Trump’s constant efforts to repeal it and his lifetime grudge with the late Sen. John McCain over McCain’s thumbs down at one repeal vote.

Two, Vance said that Trump “peacefully gave over power on Jan. 20th.” Technically, he’s right that Trump left town and didn’t attend Biden’s inauguration. But Trump, to this minute, claims the 2020 election was “stolen” from him. And he claims that if he loses, the 2024 election is premeditated larceny too.

Two comments about the moderators: Margaret Brennan, did her usual professional job. Nora O’Donnell (my least favorite news anchor) was her self-aggrandizing self when after each question she’d say to the candidate being asked, “I’ll give you two minutes,” when those were the rules: two minutes for response, two minutes for rebuttal.

But I digress.

Not sure what the viewership was for the debate but I’m sure it dwindled as the debate went on which is too bad. Walz had his best minutes at the end when the topic turned to the riots of Jan. 6th and Walz turned to ask Vance if Trump lost the 2020 election.

True to lockstep form, Vance avoided the question and used his line about Trump’s peaceful exit of Washington two weeks later.

Walz responded, “America I think you’ve got a really clear choice of who’s going to honor democracy and who’s going to honor Donald Trump.”

And that’s not a tie.

GOING FURTHER

• 1988 VP Debate Flashback: ‘Senator, You’re No Jack Kennedy’ | NBC NEWS

• J.D. Vance once compared Trump to Hitler. Now they are running mates | REUTERS

• Walz asks Vance if Trump lost 2020 election | CBS NEWS

Sources:

▪ This piece was first published in The Screaming Moderate and re-published in PUBLIC SQUARE UK on 5 October 2024 under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. | The author writes in a personal capacity.

▪ Cover: Flickr/Elvert Barnes. (Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.)