LOS ANGELES.–Sen. J.D. Vance, 40, looks forward to facing off against 60-year-old Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the Oct. 1 CBS debate at the broadcast center in New York City. Hosted by 50-year-old Norah O’Donnell and 44-year-old Margaret Brennan, the moderators plan to not interrupt the candidates with fact-checking, letting the audience draw their own conclusions in any post-debate analysis. When 78-year-old former President Donald Trump debated 59-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris Sept. 10, chief ABC News moderator David Muir and Linsey Davis interrupted only Trump with self-serving fact-checking, making the debate look like it was three-against-one. O’Donnell and Brennan will try to act more professionally but their anti-Trump political bias is known to all. So, Vance comes into the debate with one-hand tied behind his back, knowing that they’re out to get him.
Let there be no mistake, the mainstream press has gone after Vance with a vengeance since he was nominated July 15 by Trump before the Republican National Convention [RNC] in Milwaukee. Mainstream press didn’t waste any time dredging up old statements Vance made to former Fox New host Tucker Carlson in 2021, calling some women who run the country “childless cat ladies,” something the press repeated ad nauseam. Vance is also slammed in the press for his pro-life stands, agreeing with the Supreme Court’s June 24, 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending a federal guarantee of abortion. So, you can rest assured that CBS questions for Vance will set him up the same way they did Trump at his blatantly biased Sept. 10 ABC News Debate. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) has been helping prepare Vance for the Oct. 1 CBS debate.
Emmer has known Walz for years in the House before he left to become Minnesota Gov. Jan. 7, 2019. Emmer has actually played Walz in debate prep sessions for Vance, giving Vance a flavor of Walz personality or the way he would respond to any criticism. “He’s going to do a great job,” Emmer said. “I can tell you he’s got the issues on his side,” Emmer told ABC News Martha Raddatz. “He could talk about the economy that Donald Trump fixed and that Harris and Biden broke. He can talk about the border that Trump fixed, and they broke. He can talk about the peace and stability around the world, which they don’t even have a clue,” Emmer said. But Emmer is not in control of how CBS will craft questions specifically to play to Vance’s weakness on civil rights, gender rights and women’s reproductive health. Emmer kids himself that Vance is so well prepared to debate Walz.
Vance won’t get to pick and chose the questions that will be asked specifically to favor Walz, asking more about civil, gender and women’s reproductive rights, certainly not the economy or foreign policy. “Once he understands that Tim Walz is just going to try and deflect and go into this folksy whatever, he’ll hold him accountable. I think JD will do a great job,” Emmer said, knowing he has no control over the questioning. “Once people get to know who he is and what policies,” they see, “he’s more radical than Kamala Harris,” Emmer said. Emmer knows that the CBS hosts and audience are all about civil, gender and women’s rights, not really interested in the economy or foreign policy. Walz will talk about the hardship placed on women because of the Supreme Court ending Roe v. Wade, blaming the whole thing on Trump because he picked three conservatives justices.
Trump wasn’t the one that ruled on Dobbs v. Jackson, ruling that the Constitution offered no guarantee of abortion. Yet Democrats and the mainstream press blame Trump for overturning Roe v. Wade, knowing that the Supreme Court ruled according to the law. Judging by Walz performance on the campaign stump, he, like Kamala, are more comfortable talking about various subjects by reading off teleprompters. When it comes to any real understanding of issues facing voters in 2024, Walz knows only what’s written the teleprompter, giving J.D. a real advantage in answering unscripted questions. “The debate is on Tuesday night, so I’ll let your viewers decide that,” Emmer told Raddatz, not answering whether he played Walz in any mock debates. Emmer thinks that most voters care about GOP issues, something that hasn’t proved true for Kamala’s liberal audience.
J.D. Vance has a compelling story from his 2016 New York Times best-selling book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” a kind of biography of Vance growing up in neighboring Appalachia from a broken home with all its challenges. Vance overcame unbelievable odds to serve for four years with distinction in Iraq as a Marine journalist, then to finish his degree in political science at Ohiol State and to go on to graduate Yale University Law school. Walz lacks Vance’s credentials having worked as a high school social studies teacher and defensive coordinator on the football team. Walz holds a bachelors and masters degree in experiential education from Minnesota State University. Walz has good reason to be nervous about his debate because he’s not up-to-speed on the issues, only what he reads off the teleprompter. Emmer thinks Vance will expose Walz as a kind of imposter at the debate.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
