In the context of the previous debate between Vice President Kamala Harris (Democrat) and Former President Donald Trump (Republican), many Americans are still unsure of who they will vote for.
While some people assume the upcoming debate between JD Vance (R) and Tim Walz (D) will be uneventful, the context of this year’s debate is especially important. With the number of undecided voters being between 3% nationwide and reaching up to 15% in swing states such as Pennsylvania, the candidates are still pushing to appeal to undecided voters.
The debate will most likely closely mirror that of the presidential debate. Both of the Vice President candidates seem to be taking the same debate approaches as their running mates did. After the Presidential debate CNN claimed, a “majority of debate watchers say Harris outperformed Trump onstage”. Vance discusses how “The main goal is to destroy Walz’s moderate image.” Similarly, Emily Soong, Harris’s spokesperson claims “This debate will serve as another clear opportunity for Governor Walz to present Vice President Harris”. Many Americans are looking for both running mates to discuss policies in a definitive way while also debating effectively.
Debate Information:
When: Tuesday, Oct. 1 from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. EST
Where: The debate will be in New York City
How: The debate will be moderated by Norah O’Donnell, the managing editor and anchor of “CBS Evening News” and Margaret Brennan, the CBS News foreign affairs correspondent and “Face the Nation” moderator. The debate will be hosted by CBS and available on various other platforms such as Paramount+.
While the rules of the debate have not officially been released yet, many believe that the rules will be less strict than those of the presidential debate. The rules may exclude the muted mics seen previously with Trump and Harris.
Who: The two vice presidential candidates are JD Vance (R) and Tim Walz (D).
JD Vance (R): Vance was born in Middletown, Ohio, and is currently 40 years old. He is best known for his experience growing up middle class. It is seen in his work Hillbilly Elegy, which plays into the common populist support for Trump. He was enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school and attended Ohio University followed by Yale Law School. He is a member of the U.S. Senate representing Ohio and was previously a lawyer. Overall, Vance’s emphasis on the importance of America’s middle class continues to be something that largely supports Trump’s Administration. Much of Vance’s career has emphasized populism or the representation of common people.
Tim Walz (D): Walz was born in West Point, Nebraska, and is currently 60 years old. After he graduated high school, he worked in factory and agricultural jobs while also serving in the National Guard. He attended college at Chadron State College and spent his postgraduate days as a teacher, both in China and Nebraska. He also served as a high school football coach and in the National Guard during this time. He has now been reelected into Congress five times and was mostly known for being able to work with Republicans cooperatively. Walz also assisted in aiding military families. He now serves as Minnesota’s governor for his second term.
Anticipated Key Topics:
Project 2025: Project 2025 has been brought up many times in previous debates, specifically the presidential one. While the Trump campaign attempts to separate themselves from its policies, Harris’s campaign references it frequently in criticism.
Trump is not personally involved with it, but many of his close advisors seem to be heavily involved. Overall, Project 2025 is said to promote conservative and right-wing ideologies as well as attempt to consolidate executive power and reshape the federal government.
It is likely that Walz will bring this up in the debate and group the project with Trump’s campaign. It is something many of the American people are unknowledgeable about, which may give the Democrats the upper hand in the vice presidential debate.
Economy: In continuation of the late presidential debate, both campaigns are likely to continue the debate of economics. Because the Harris Campaign is heavily associated with the Biden Administration, the Republican Party will most likely play off of this. While the economy has taken a hit since the COVID-19 Pandemic, many voters may overlook this context and look at numbers differently.
Both parties are attempting to appeal to the middle classes in their own ways.
Harris’ campaign is likely to follow the Biden Administration’s efforts to continue to create new jobs for the nation. While most of America was skeptical about the economy, numbers are proving that the economy is fairly strong post-pandemic and Walz is likely to mention these points.
Trump’s campaign claims to succeed at battling inflation and cutting taxes as was promised in his 2016 campaign. The effectiveness of the execution of these policies is debatable. Vance will probably mention the positive numbers from the Trump Administration as well as the weaker points from the Biden Administration.
There is much debate about who handled the economy better as there is much overlap between the two campaigns and their policies. It is difficult to assign a single candidate to a single set of economic policies.
Immigration: With Trump’s previous comment on the immigrants in Springfield “eating cats and dogs”, immigration will likely be mentioned by both candidates. With the bold statement made by former President Trump in the recent presidential debate, Walz will most likely mention the extremity of this harmful stereotype of Haitian immigrants. It is also a statement that Vance has been found referring to as well. Both parties have defined themselves as making efforts against immigration policies, but the extremities of these policies differ and will most likely be a hot topic.
Abortion: Abortion is another topic that is likely going to be mentioned by both parties. With the fairly recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, access to abortion remains a common topic of debate.
While Roe v. Wade was overturned during the Biden Administration, it is significant to mention that Trump was the president who elected the Supreme Court justices into office that overturned this decision.
Both Walz and Vance take opposing sides of this argument in their current state governments and it will likely be discussed.
