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The Veep Debate - Walz v. Vance, 9pm EST Tuesday, Oct 1st


Bullneck

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I was listening to MSNBC today and apparently, to my surprise, Walz is said to be experiencing some nerves about the debate.  Apparently they are trying to manage expectations.  Oh, boy.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/28/politics/tim-walz-vice-president-debate/index.html

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17 minutes ago, Bullneck said:

I was listening to MSNBC today and apparently, to my surprise, Walz is said to be experiencing some nerves about the debate.  Apparently they are trying to manage expectations.  Oh, boy.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/28/politics/tim-walz-vice-president-debate/index.html

"You know they're a team who've been really close in a few contests, and if a few things would have broken the other way they would have pulled those out. We haven't had our best week of practice and I keep telling these guys that they have to be better in how they prepare or you never know what will happen when you step out on that field."

Nick Saban a few days before beating Vanderbilt 55-0 probably

Edited by Surly Bevo
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Yeah they are just managing expectations there is nothing from Walz that says he can't knock it out of the park based from interviews, once again Dem expectations that he will reach into Vance's soul and get him to recant and ask for forgiveness or else it is failure is typical bullshit.

I honestly don't know how people fail these dumb "debates".

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This will not go like the Harris-Trump debate went.  Walz might “win” but it will not be because he totally pantses Vance or because Vance comes off as a bumbling idiot.  There is a lot of downside for Harris/Walz in this debate because they have the momentum and it’s very close to Election Day; Walz could very well cost them the election with a really bad performance, and there’s almost nothing he could do that would widen their lead to the point of making it a landslide.

Walz needs to “keep it real” without coming off as elderly or a bumpkin or having an “oops” moment (although that kind of flub won’t bury him the way it did Perry because Walz is so likable).  He does that, he will be fine.  Do no harm.

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2 hours ago, Underdog said:

I should add that the wife is a bit worried about him getting flustered/frustrated. I think he’ll be fine. 

He coached high school football.  There's nothing Vance or a moderator could say to him, that would approach what plenty of parents have hurled his way as a coach.

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2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

He coached high school football.  There's nothing Vance or a moderator could say to him, that would approach what plenty of parents have hurled his way as a coach.

I feel there is a non-trivial chance that this debate will end with Walz holding a sobbing Vance, patting him on the head, and repeating "It's not too late to change, son. It's not too late.  You can be a better person." 

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11 hours ago, Snake Diggity said:

I will also say that it’s possible Walz’s confidence is shaken because he’s been taking prep against Pete Buttigieg.

Jesus, that's like sparring prime Mike Tyson to get ready to fight the middle-aged fat guy at your local McDojo.

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Takes on debate past performances for the two. Walz can show some excitability and does exude a bit of nervous energy, and Vance does come off as someone who's very comfortable lying.

So, it might not be a total thrashing.

We Watched Vance’s Old Debates. Here’s What We Learned.
Senator JD Vance assumed his first public office just last year. But to win that job, he had to survive about a dozen debates, sharpening his chops when facing opponents onstage.

Some politicians enjoy mixing it up with crowds on the campaign trail, while others revel in fund-raising.

JD Vance loves debates.

Mr. Vance, the first-term Republican senator from Ohio, will get his moment on the most prominent stage of his fledgling political career on Tuesday, when he represents Donald J. Trump’s presidential ticket in a matchup against his Democratic rival, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.

It’s a moment he has been anticipating for months.

Mr. Vance spoke eagerly about the vice-presidential debate shortly after being named to Mr. Trump’s ticket in July. When President Biden dropped out of the race, Mr. Vance reacted with disappointment — because now he would no longer debate Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Talk about take-backs,” Mr. Vance said at his first solo campaign event. “I was told I was going to get to debate Kamala Harris, and now President Trump’s going to get to debate her. I’m kind of pissed off about that if I’m being honest with you.”

For his face-off with Mr. Walz, Mr. Vance has been busy with debate prep, including semiregular “murder board” sessions in which his top advisers pummel him with pointed questions and heated attacks.

But his biggest advantage may be his recent experience. While Mr. Vance, 40, assumed his first public office just last year, to win that job he had to survive a gantlet of about a dozen primary and general-election debates.

A review of those events shows that Mr. Vance, a best-selling author with a rebellious streak, brings a similarly distinct style to his debates. He is aggressive and bold in his assertions. His pugnacity often leads to over-the-top claims, but he is also careful to present as more polite and thoughtful than the caricature of him portrayed by opponents.

Here’s a look at Mr. Vance’s debating style — and what it may tell us about his upcoming matchup against Mr. Walz.

Spoiler

He’s quick on his feet.
Mr. Vance was a first-time candidate when he ran for the Senate in 2022, but no amount of experience could have prepared him for the extraordinary moment that unfolded in front of him as two Republican primary opponents nearly came to blows on a debate stage in Columbus, Ohio.

Mike Gibbons, an investment banker, had mocked Josh Mandel, a former state treasurer, for having “never spent a day in the private sector.” Mr. Mandel, a veteran, stood up and pointed a finger back at Mr. Gibbons, saying, “Two tours in Iraq — don’t tell me I haven’t worked.”

They stood chest to chest, trading taunts as Mr. Vance watched wide-eyed. He laughed and reached for his microphone but reconsidered and placed it beside his lap.

Mr. Vance grew agitated as the confrontation continued. He leaned back in his chair. He examined the back of his tie. “Goddamn, this is ridiculous,” he blurted out as the moderator tried to restore order.

When it was his turn for a question a few minutes later, Mr. Vance, who, like Mr. Mandel, had served in the Marines, appeared ready to unload on Mr. Gibbons. Instead, Mr. Vance berated Mr. Mandel, who was ahead in the polls.

“This guy wants to be a U.S. senator, and he’s up here, ‘Hold me back, hold me back, I got two tours in the Marine Corps,’” Mr. Vance said, using an exaggerated voice to mimic Mr. Mandel. “What a joke. Answer the question, stop playing around.”

The moment was noted at Mar-a-Lago, where Mr. Trump would clinch the Senate race for Mr. Vance with an endorsement a few weeks later. It also showed Mr. Vance’s ability to react quickly and not overthink the response to even the most unexpected of debate moments.

He has faced a folksy Democrat before.
Mr. Vance’s opponent in the general election for the Senate seat two years ago, Tim Ryan, campaigned as a folksy, bipartisan Everyman similar to Mr. Walz.

Mr. Ryan, a Democrat who at the time was an Ohio congressman, favored Cleveland sports jerseys on the trail and often stood behind the debate lectern with his hand tucked casually into the pocket of his suit pants as he leveled attacks at Mr. Vance while referring to him as “buddy.”

“My turn, pal — my turn,” Mr. Ryan said, holding up his open palm as Mr. Vance tried to interrupt during one of their debates.

“Oh, buddy, your turn,” a frustrated Mr. Vance shot back while waving off Mr. Ryan with his hand.

In one attack, Mr. Ryan referred to old neighborhood friends as a way to attack Mr. Vance as too much of a supplicant to Mr. Trump.

“I don’t know anybody I grew up with, I don’t know anybody I went to high school with that would allow somebody to take their dignity like that,” Mr. Ryan said.

To better prepare for Mr. Walz’s Minnesota version of “Midwestern nice,” the Vance team recruited Representative Tom Emmer to play the role of the governor in a mock debate.

Mr. Emmer is a fellow Minnesotan with a similarly reliable love of sports — Mr. Walz coached high school football, while Mr. Emmer played college hockey before coaching youth teams. Mr. Emmer is deeply familiar with Mr. Walz after having served with him for several terms in Congress.

Before his mock debate with Mr. Vance on Friday in Cincinnati, Mr. Emmer studied for the role and even held a mock debate of the mock debate.

“He’s going to do a great job,” Mr. Emmer said on Sunday on ABC. “Once he understands that Tim Walz is just going to try and deflect and go into this folksy whatever, he’ll hold him accountable.”

There is almost no question he hasn’t heard.
Mr. Vance has had a strong sense of self-confidence when speaking to reporters since his days working in media relations for the Marines. “The experience taught me a valuable lesson: that I could do it,” Mr. Vance wrote in his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” “I could work 20-hour days when I had to. I could speak clearly and confidently with TV cameras shoved in my face.”

He has brought that assurance to the campaign trail, where he has been interviewed dozens of times on cable networks and Sunday morning news broadcasts, and by local TV, radio and print reporters. An unusual twist during his campaign rallies is a regular Q. and A. session with reporters.

Those interactions have also doubled as debate prep. Mr. Vance’s team says there is probably no issue he’ll be asked about on Tuesday that he hasn’t already fielded.

A key has been his willingness to wade far beyond the friendly terrain of conservative news media and to face more confrontational questions. Those appearances have helped him sharpen his skills.

Mr. Vance can laugh off questions, quickly pivot to turn almost any issue into an attack on Ms. Harris and rarely strays far from the campaign message. His interview with Dana Bash that aired two weeks ago on CNN showed he could get frustrated in the moment but also quickly recover.

In that interview, Mr. Vance defended his baseless claim that Haitian migrants were eating cats by saying that he was willing to “create stories” to get the news media focused on issues. Ms. Bash seized on those words.

“So, the eating dogs and cats thing is not accurate?” she asked.

Mr. Vance tilted his head and winced. The damage had been done, but Mr. Vance tried to clarify and dig himself out.

“Dana, it comes from firsthand accounts from my constituents,” he said. “I say that we’re creating a story, meaning we’re creating the American media focusing on it.”

Afterward, Democrats cheered the interview as exposing Mr. Vance’s duplicity. Conservatives, however, applauded Mr. Vance for aggressively pushing back on Ms. Bash.

He still hasn’t quite squared his position on abortion.
Mr. Vance’s 2022 debates generated headlines when he supported a national abortion ban and again when he said he supported exceptions but refused to name them.

Now he’s running on a ticket with Mr. Trump, who has tried to avoid questions about a national abortion ban by saying that it was a question for the states.

The issue has created some awkward moments on the trail. Mr. Vance has resorted to answering the abortion questions by subtly distancing himself from the top of the ticket, framing his response as “President Trump’s position” or “President Trump’s view.”

Even when asked to articulate his own position, he pivots.

“What do you want to see happen with abortion?” he was asked in DePere, Wis.

“Well,” Mr. Vance said, before adding, “this is President Trump’s view, to be clear: Each state ought to make their own abortion policy.”

Further complicating the issue was a public correction from Mr. Trump, who said that he never told Mr. Vance that he would veto a national ban.

When asked about the veto, Mr. Vance parroted Mr. Trump’s answer that it was a meaningless question because a ban was unlikely to pass a divided Senate.

“Let’s not engage in stupid hypotheticals that are never going to happen,” Mr. Vance said in Wisconsin.

But engaging in hypotheticals seems to be exactly what Mr. Vance has done — he is a co-sponsor for a national ban proposed last year.

He has some Trumpy moves.
Mr. Vance has several moves when it comes to political communications.

He has few qualms about sanding down facts to sharpen his attacks on an opponent, but he is careful not to appear out of control in front of a camera. He’s a policy wonk who was once a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. But he has also perfected one of Mr. Trump’s go-to moves — turning the tables and accusing his opponents of doing whatever it is they’re accusing him of doing.

In the 2022 debate with Mr. Ryan, Mr. Vance illustrated the technique by trying to boomerang an attack from Mr. Ryan back at him.

Mr. Ryan accused Mr. Vance of peddling the “great replacement theory,” the belief that Western elites want to “replace” and marginalize white Americans.

As Mr. Ryan spoke, Mr. Vance — whose wife, Usha Chilukuri, is the daughter of Indian immigrants — swayed behind a lectern awaiting his turn to speak. He fidgeted, moving his hands from the sides of the lectern before folding them in front of him.

Finally, he had enough.

“So,” Mr. Vance said, holding up his hand as if trying to stop Mr. Ryan.

“Hold on, JD, stop interrupting,” Mr. Ryan said.

“No, this is disgusting,” Mr. Vance shot back. “Because here’s exactly what happens when the media and people like Tim Ryan accuse me of engaging in the great replacement theory.

“I’ll tell you exactly what happens, Tim,” he continued. “What happens is that my own children — my biracial children — get attacked by scumbags online and in person because you are so desperate for political power that you’ll accuse me, the father of three beautiful biracial babies, of engaging in racism. We are sick of it.”

 

 

We Watched Tim Walz’s Old Debates. Here’s What We Learned.
He may not be a lofty orator, but he has shown an ability to deliver punchy critiques with Everyman appeal.

Before he was known to the nation as an affable Midwestern dad and a vice-presidential nominee, Tim Walz was a fast-talking political long shot in an ill-fitting suit, spoiling, in his Minnesotan way, for a debate-stage fight.

As he stood next to his opponent — a crisply dressed six-term Republican congressman — Mr. Walz, a teacher by training, offered viewers a stark contrast at that 2006 debate, hosted by KSMQ-TV. Mr. Walz cast their choice as one between a political insider focused on “moving up in elected office” and the alternative he said he represented: “I live in the world that most of you live in.”

Nearly two decades later, Mr. Walz is the one who has moved up in elected office, rising from congressman to governor and now, Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate. He is set to face Senator JD Vance of Ohio, former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate, in a high-profile debate on Tuesday.

Mr. Walz and his allies have tried to set expectations high for Mr. Vance, emphasizing his Yale Law School credentials. And Mr. Vance is a practiced verbal pugilist who seems to delight in combative exchanges on cable news and Sunday morning shows.

But a review of a half-dozen recorded debates over Mr. Walz’s career makes clear that while the camo-wearing, car-tinkering man from Mankato may not be his party’s most stirring speaker, he is in fact a seasoned debater himself.

He is capable of both delivering punchy criticisms and exuding the Everyman appeal that helped propel him to the Democratic ticket — it was Mr. Walz, after all, who memorably branded the Trump-Vance ticket as “weird.” At times, though, Mr. Walz has been knocked off-kilter, too.

“He can get a bit wordy,” said former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a Republican. “But he’s an energetic and assertive speaker.”

Here’s what we’ve learned about Mr. Walz’s debating style, and what it may tell us about Tuesday’s matchup against Mr. Vance.

Spoiler

He’s no lofty orator, but he can be nimble onstage.
Two summers ago, as Mr. Walz ran for his second term as governor, he trekked to tiny Morgan, Minn., for an agriculture-focused forum called Farmfest.

The crowd seemed to lean conservative, and Mr. Walz’s Republican challenger, Scott Jensen, a family physician, was enjoying a friendly reception. But when Dr. Jensen deplored policies that he suggested encouraged people to “sit on the couch and watch TV,” Mr. Walz saw an opening.

“What you’ll never hear from your governor is that Minnesotans are lazy,” Mr. Walz declared.

“If you truly believe in the people, invest in our children, invest in our teachers,” he thundered, “and don’t you dare call us lazy.”

The moment illustrated Mr. Walz’s ability to think on his feet, a skill he will need against Mr. Vance, an aggressive communicator.

Mr. Walz, by contrast, has done few national news media interviews since joining Ms. Harris’s ticket, making him less tested in the kind of spotlight he will face on Tuesday.

Those who have worked with him on past debates say he does not particularly enjoy the format or the preparations, preferring retail politics in less scripted settings instead. (Mr. Vance is said to love debates.)

And he plainly does not have the smooth lawyerly style of many other politicians.

That is part of his challenge but also his charm, according to longtime Walz observers.

“He’s developed a capacity to just plainly say what he means, in ways that avoid the rhetoric and resonate with people,” said Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul, Minn., who has known Mr. Walz for nearly two decades.

He can throw a punch. He doesn’t like taking them.
At another debate, in October 2022, Mr. Walz demonstrated a command of Dr. Jensen’s record — and showed that he could catch a rival off guard with a calmly delivered blow.

“When Scott was issuing opioid prescriptions, he issued more than 94 percent of his peers,” Mr. Walz said at the debate, hosted by KTTC-TV, a local Minnesota station, as they discussed the opioid crisis. “He did that at the same time while accepting meals from the manufacturers and the pharmaceutical companies.”

Dr. Jensen, taken aback, didn’t dispute the charge.

He and other Republicans who have watched Mr. Walz over the years say the governor is also adept at parrying efforts to pin him down — though Mr. Walz’s supporters see him as a straight shooter.

“He’s just very good at sort of deflecting and avoiding a question,” Dr. Jensen said in an interview.

Handling incoming can be another matter.

At Farmfest, Dr. Jensen suggested Mr. Walz had moved too slowly to deploy the National Guard after the protests-turned-riots that erupted after a police officer murdered George Floyd. Mr. Walz, who had spent much of the forum seated, rose to his feet.

“Having served 24 years in the National Guard, that’s a lot more experience than watching ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and second-guessing where our men and women are putting themselves at risk,” he snapped.

That moment and others throughout his debating history show that Mr. Walz can be rattled onstage, also sometimes flashing signs of irritation at a question or line of argument.

“He gets angry,” Mr. Carter, the mayor of St. Paul, acknowledged. “But I don’t see him get mad and throw away all his cards.”

He has faced particular scrutiny of his stewardship of the post-Floyd moment, an issue that Mr. Vance may be eager to re-litigate Tuesday.

At one point during the KTTC-TV, debate, Mr. Walz said he was “proud of Minnesota’s response, I’m proud of Minnesota’s first responders” during the 2020 protests.

Dr. Jensen, seeking to turn Mr. Walz’s words against him, used the moment to define “Minnesota’s response” in terms of the civil unrest that unfolded. Mr. Walz then said that he had been talking about his pride in the first responders.

Mr. Walz can speak imprecisely or inaccurately at times, an issue that has arisen both in this campaign — on subjects including his National Guard service — and earlier in his career. (Mr. Vance, for his part, has gleefully promoted outlandish and debunked claims, including that Haitian migrants were eating house pets.)

Still, Mr. Walz heads into the debate with a key advantage: Recent polling shows voters view him more favorably than they do Mr. Vance, which may leave him extra leeway with some viewers.

He has a progressive record, but he doesn’t talk like an ideologue.
Mr. Walz’s task on Tuesday will be to promote and defend Ms. Harris’s vision to a bitterly divided country — and he has years of practice reaching across the aisle from the debate stage.

“I don’t have the luxury of being partisan,” he said in that 2006 debate.

He has often positioned himself as a pragmatist. He responded to Democratic criticisms of his past support from the National Rifle Association, for example, by arguing that advancing gun control measures would be achieved through building coalitions, not through enforcing political purity tests.

“It’s about who has the capacity to actually move things that make a difference in people’s lives,” he said in a 2018 Democratic primary debate hosted by MPR News.

In office as governor, however, Mr. Walz developed a more liberal record, and over the course of his debating career he has sounded progressive notes on issues including health care and racial justice.

While the policy positions and past comments of Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris will most likely be more relevant to Tuesday’s debate than those of their running mates, Mr. Vance may try to play on Mr. Walz’s left-leaning record to cast the ticket as overly liberal.

He’s no stranger to defending abortion rights from the debate stage.
Four months after Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court nominees helped overturn Roe v. Wade, Mr. Walz was on the debate stage showing his willingness to use the issue to go on offense.

“There’s a clear contrast here,” he said firmly in that October debate. “My entire career, I’ve trusted women.”

Two years later, the issue of abortion rights remains central to the national campaign. It is a difficult subject for Republicans to navigate, and polls show Democrats with a clear advantage on it even as they struggle with other issues, especially the economy.

Mr. Walz, who has addressed abortion rights for years from the debate stage and in news media interviews, is likely to press it again with Mr. Vance on Tuesday.

“This is about life and death,” he added at that debate. “This is about providers making the most personal decisions with a woman, with nobody else in between them.”

His down-home style has won him unexpected admiration.
In the 2018 primary debate, Mr. Walz declared himself “an eternal optimist” about Minnesota and extolled “the idea that our neighbors may see things a little differently but they share those core values.”

The moment captured his efforts to brand his politics as common-sense and unifying. It’s an approach he uses on the 2024 campaign trail, and one that he will most likely deploy again on Tuesday against a Republican ticket that Democrats argue is divisive and extreme.

Onstage, Mr. Walz often sprinkles his appearances with details from his biography — he is a former high school football coach from rural Nebraska whose family owned a meat locker, he has said — that illustrate why Democrats hope he can help the ticket expand its appeal.

His down-home dialect — saying “set” instead of “sit” and using phrases like “all’s they need to do” — also complicates longtime Republican arguments that the Democratic Party is the party of the coastal elite.

Even political rivals have conceded, however awkwardly, that Mr. Walz can appear relatable and genial.

During the October matchup against Dr. Jensen in 2022, the two candidates were asked to say something nice about the other.

“Tim Walz is an affable individual who has a wonderful smile,” the Republican said.

Whatever the intent or sincerity of that comment, Democrats embraced it, Mr. Carter recalled — and put it on T-shirts.

 

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For a mastermind dipshit, he is a showman.  People will "watch" that shit platform and form their own "opinions".  And Vance will spew lies and dodge actual issues.  Just like his sith lord taught him, but only more coherently. 

Edited by TDunk
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I personally think Vance is such a piece of shit that he only has room to gain in this debate, so it's not so much managing expectations about Walz' performance as it is just trying to combat the results, which will be that Vance will come off as less of an asshole that people thought.  

My expectation is that Walz is going to come across like Tim Kaine with fly fishing references. 

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25 minutes ago, babysdaddy said:

Fortunately, VP shit don't matter.

Pretty much this.  Not much Walz can do tonight to be better liked and Harris is 59 - not a huge concern she's going to stroke out in office after eating McDonalds and he's not auditioning to be president down the line.

Vance might improve his favorability a bit, but he's so smug and smarmy that he might not be able to overcome that.  The pressure is on him because the chance that he is president before 2028 is pretty damn huge. And Walz needs to continue to mention that. 

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11 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Isn't that a parody account?

Yes.  He's the "famed" congressman of CA-54, which doesn't exist. 

The website is hilarious: https://www.jackkimble.com/home

Quote

Rep. Jack Kimble is a complicated man. For decades he’s been the Representative of California’s 54th District and has created a political power structure that would make Sen. Joe Manchin blanch

 

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7 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

I like how we're expecting the worst tonight just because we aren't going against Trump in the debate. There's something so comforting about seeing Kamala coming out to shake Trump's hand knowing before it even started that he was going to get blitzed. 

I'm expecting Vance to lie a lot and for Walz to try to navigate that reality, but I don't think there will be any real surprises tonight. 

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31 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

I'm expecting Vance to lie a lot and for Walz to try to navigate that reality, but I don't think there will be any real surprises tonight. 

Same. Won’t move the needle. Not even gonna watch, I’ll catch the Surly highlights. 

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