JD Vance gave a much-needed shot of stability to the GOP ticket with a reasonable and focused debate performance – a contrast with Democrat Tim Walz’s nervous, mistake-prone effort.
Vance went into the debate Tuesday with high negatives and unfavorability among voters that was shaped by a Democratic narrative of an unhinged, far-right pit bull.
And while some Republicans were disappointed Vance was not more aggressive in attacking Walz, it was probably a smart strategy to be civil and not fall into the Democrats’ trap.
Vance spoke directly to undecided voters during the debate and may have given them a comfort level with the Trump-Vance ticket that wasn’t there before.
It was especially important for Vance to look reasonable given Donald Trump’s sometimes rambling and angry performance in the first and only debate against Kamala Harris. Polls showed Harris clearly won that encounter although it didn’t help her standing in battleground states.
The VP debate offered a clear contrast between the young and clear Vance against the older, more unsteady Walz who admitted he was a “knucklehead” and lied about being present at the Tiananmen Square revolt.
Walz was clearly nervous at the start and probably over-prepared for a barrage of attacks from Vance – which mostly never came.
But Walz, if he did have a strategy, did not achieve his objectives during his showdown against Vance, which was to paint him as an extremist.
Democrats were hoping to showcase Vance’s far-right views and portray him as a bumbling puppet of Trump.
Vance dodged a question about whether the 2020 election was stolen but did not panic and sought to change the subject.
And his even demeanor and tone helped belie the view most Americans had of him.
Walz also failed another objective, which was to appeal to male voters, Harris’s big weakness.
Walz instead looked at times like the befuddled skipper on Gilligan’s Island, with a standing “Hey kids, get off my yard” look. He didn’t live up to the hype that has been heaped on him as a folksy, Midwestern high school teacher.
Snap polls taken right after the debate showed Vance winning by a narrow margin over Walz, a major feat for the Republican considering most of the networks lean Democratic.
Vance scored big points by making the debate moderators retreat and mute both candidates’ microphones, not letting him finish his answer. The tactic by the network made it look heavy-handed and unfair.
The conventional wisdom coming into the debate was that VP candidates’ performances rarely alter the race, but in this case, Vance may have helped the ticket down the road by making voters more at ease with Trump.
