LOS ANGELES.–Expect 40-year-old Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and 61-year-old Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to take off the gloves and go after each other at tonight’s debate at CBC broadcast center in Manhattan. There’s no love lost between the two VP picks, trading barbs on the campaign trail, with Walz calling 78-year-old former President Donald Trump and Vance “weird,” to highlight their extreme so-called MAGA positions especially on women’s reproductive rights. Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, has made her campaign about civil, gender and women’s reproductive rights, something no doubt will take center stage at tonight’s debate. Walz will do everything possible to paint Trump and Vance as extremists, out-of-touch with the vast majority of voters. No doubt that CBS will show bias by picking questions that fit Kamala and Walz’s narrative about Trump and Vance out of the mainstream.
Vance won’t hesitate to go after Walz’s lack of experience on the border, economy and foreign policy, something that affects most voters in the 2024 election. With the help of CBS moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennen, they hope to keep Vance focused on defending the end of Roe v. Wade, something focused on in most of Kamala and Walz campaign rallies. Walz has experience as Minnesota governor with agricultural issues not something likely to come up in the debate. Walz and the CBS moderators want to keep Vance on the defense for his positions on women’s reproductive rights and, more recently, on remarks about Haitian migrants eating pets and wildlife in Springfield, Ohio. Walz wants to show Vance spawning baseless racist theories to frighten voters before the 2024 election. Walz and CBS hope to expose Vance as a racist
Vance hopes to let undecided voters see that Walz is not ready for prime time, with little understanding of the economy, foreign policy and national security. Vance should point out that Kamala and Walz have no plan other that continuing the reckless Ukraine War that has all but wrecked decades of U.S. diplomacy, détente and arms control with the Kremlin. Walz has no background in foreign policy or national security so he won’t speak too much about Ukraine other than saying that Trump wants 71-year-old President Vladimir Putin to win the war. Vance needs to point to the Mideast near full-scale war and Ukraine rapidly approaching the point of no return for any peace settlement. Kamala said in her Sept. 10 ABC News debate that she would continue 81-year-old President Joe Biden’s policy of proxy war with the Kremlin, showing no end in sight to the three-year-old war.
CBS moderators will do everything possible to keep the debate removed from the economy, foreign policy and national security. They know it’s not Walz strong point, even though it’s essential to being Vice President. How can a Vice President focus only on civil, gender and women’s reproductive rights? Walz wants to shift the focus to concerns of Midwestern voters, more concerned about inflation and losing jobs in the Rust Belt. Trump gives blue collar voters in the Upper Midwest hope that he can return auto manufacturing back to the region by ending electric car [EV] mandates. CBS no doubt will ask questions about climate change given the unthinkable damage caused by Hurricane Helene especially in the Southeast. Vance should point to the Biden administration’s feckless response from FEMA and other related government agencies.
CBS will no doubt ask questions about the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Project that Kamala and Walz claim is part of the Republican platform. Trump has denied knowing anything about it despite knowing some of the persons who worked on the 887-page report, seeking a national abortion ban, new tax cuts and deregulation of other consumer protections at the USDA and FDA. “In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make,” Walz said at the DNC in Philadelphia. “Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule: Mind you own damn business,” giving Walz Midwestern mindset. Walz refers to the Supreme Court ending Roe v. Wade, now forcing women to make health care decisions they wouldn’t ordinarily make. Vance and Walz could also go after their military records, where Walz served 24 years in the Minnesota National Guard.
Expect a spirited debate tonight with Vance and Walz going after each other but, more importantly, appealing for undecided battleground state votes. Polls both national and in swing states in a virtual dead heat, with Kamala leading by two percent nationally. Walz will try to paint Vance as a mean-spirited white nationalist, while painting himself as in the mainstream, supporting civil, gender and women’s reproductive rights. Vance and Walz are no shrinking violets and won’t hesitate to butt heads tonight, especially if it shows toughness to undecided voters. Vance needs to avoid the CBS, Democrat and media trap to get mired in climate change, civil, gender and women’s reproductive rights, all favoring Walz. Vance should do everything to show fence-sitting Midwesterners that Joe and Kamala’s policies have led to economic hardship and war overseas.
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.
