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VP Debate:  A Return to Civility

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By Veronica Mackey

The stage was set Tuesday Night in New York for a contentious Vice Presidential Debate on CBS. Moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan showed up prepared, and dressed, ready to drill candidates on their policies.  Democratic candidate Gov. Tim Walz (Minn) and Republican candidate, U.S. Senator JD Vance (Ohio) went round after round, pointing out why their party’s platform was best for America.

The debate, for the most part, however, was an exercise in diplomacy.  The candidates actually stuck to policies, leaving personal attacks to their presidential running mates.  They were polite and cordial to one another, and even agreed on many aspects of the issues.  The drag out battle that some had looked forward to never happened. 

The exchanges were so congenial, for a moment, I felt that maybe they should be running together.  Vance, who was the first to push the rumor about Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets, played nice and pulled back on the rhetoric used on the campaign trail.  Although he once referred to his presidential running mate Donald Trump as a Nazi, he has made a complete about face.  “I was wrong about Donald Trump,” he said, and blamed the media for “misinformation.”

Walz was his usual, kind, folksy self, much to the dismay of some Democrats who said he was “too nice” to Vance.

Immigration

The hot-button topic of immigration had both men eager to speak, so much so that their mics were temporarily muted.  According to Vance, current Vice President Kamala Harris is responsible for allowing massive amounts of  fentanyl to come across the border.  He and Trump will put an end to this practice, and also make it harder for criminal migrants to undercut wages of American workers, he said. 

Watz reminded the home audience that Trump failed to deliver on his promise to build a wall between America and Mexico:  “Less than 2 percent of that wall was built and Mexico didn’t pay us a dime,” he said.

The Economy

Senator Vance blamed Harris for the high cost of living, and said she drove up food prices by 20% and housing costs by 60%. Watz said Trump’s plan would impose a 20% tax imposed on everything that comes into the country.  He blamed Trump’s failure to act responsibly to the Covid 19 pandemic as one of the major reasons for America’s economic issues.  He added, “(Trump) created the largest trade deficit in US history.  We saw people profit and put their money overseas.” 

Reproductive Rights

Walz said Vance will put a national abortion ban in place to replace the current policy of allowing states to decide.  Vance denied the accusation.  Both men agreed that more needs to be done to help women economically so their choice of whether or not to have children isn’t based on financial reasons.  They were in favor of extended family leave.

Gov. Walz restored Roe vs. Wade in Minnesota.

Gun violence

On the topic of gun rights and gun violence, Vance intends to increase school security by employing more officers and installing security doors.  Walz is a gun owner and admits he used to be an NRA guy, but he changed positions  after the Sandy Hook  School incident in which 26 people were killed—the majority were first graders.    He shared a story about his 17 year-old son witnessing a shooting at a recreation center.  Vance showed compassion to his rival.  “I’m so sorry that happened,” he said.

Health care

Vance did another about face when asked if the Trump administration would undo protections for people with preexisting conditions, a crowning achievement of the law that was championed by President Barack Obama. Vance recently said that the marketplace should create different risk pools for Americans, based on their health and age. The problem is, that plan could make health care coverage effectively unaffordable for the sickest Americans. .

Walz defended the Affordable Care Act—which Trump failed to repeal multiple times—and which more than 21 million people rely on for health insurance.

Election Integrity

Fireworks came near the end of the debate when asked whether Vance would certify the election if Trump lost.

Back in February, the senator said he would not have certified the 2020 election until all electors voted for Trump.  He also suggested Trump should ignore “illegitimate” court rulings. Walz asked Vance if he and Trump would concede if they lose the 2024 election. Vance immediately went into avoidant mode:

“I more interested in the future,” he said before going off on a tangent about Harris censoring Americans. “I believe that we actually do have a threat to democracy in this country. But unfortunately, it’s not the threat to democracy that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz want to talk about. It is the threat of censorship. It’s Americans casting aside lifelong friendships because of disagreements over politics. It’s big technology companies silencing their fellow citizens,” Vance said.

“That’s a damning non-answer,” Walz replied, and continued:

That’s what we’re asking you, America. Will you stand up? Will you keep your oath of office even if the president doesn’t?  And I think Kamala Harris would agree. She wouldn’t have picked me if she didn’t think I would do that, because of course, that’s what we would do. So, America, I think you’ve got a really clear choice on this election of who’s going to honor that democracy and who’s going to honor Donald Trump.”

According to a CNN Instant Poll, there was no clear winner of the debate.  According the poll results: 


“There’s a significant gender gap among viewers over which candidate more closely shares their vision for America: Among female voters, Walz has the clear advantage, with half saying he does compared with the 36% who see Vance’s vision as closer to theirs. Male voters split more evenly, 47% Walz to 43% Vance.

Viewers said by a narrow margin, 37% to 33%, that Vance did a better job than Walz in defending his running mate, with 27% saying that each candidate did an equally good job, and 3% that neither did. Seven in 10 Trump supporters said Vance did the better job defending his running mate, while 57% of Harris backers said Walz did best on that.”

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