Quite civilized on TV without Trump
Vance and Walz – suddenly united in a quarrel
By Roland Peters and Leah Nowak, New York
October 2, 2024, 8:00 a.m
In the television duel, Trump’s running mate Vance appears to be committed and confident, Tim Walz needs time to get going – but puts the Republican in his place when it comes to social issues. Somewhat surprised: There are still factual debates in US politics.
Tim Walz stumbles. The moderators caught Kamala Harris’ running mate off guard with their opening question: Would he recommend a preemptive military strike against Iran if he were in the White House? The Democrat struggles through his answer, which is really no answer. Shortly afterwards, his opponent JD Vance surfs the same question in a conversational tone into the television duel between the vice candidates. The senator shows from the start why Donald Trump was persuaded to take him to his side. Vance will continue like this until the end of the hour and a half: confident, undeterred, avoiding possible sea mines.
The two are dueling this evening in New York only indirectly for themselves, but especially for the presidential candidates with whom they want to win the election on November 5th. Harris debated Trump in their duel against the television wall and is slightly ahead of the Republican in polls. He refused to meet again. The big question among Democrats was: Can Walz score points in crucial states, such as western Pennsylvania, which is part of the Rust Belt? Without a win in the state, it will be much more difficult for Kamala Harris to beat her opponent.
After Iran and its attack on Israel, the moderators address the second major topic: the at least 77 deaths and the devastation left by Hurricane Helene in several states; which becomes a discussion about climate change. Vance says jobs from dirty manufacturing in China need to be brought back to cleaner manufacturing in the US to produce less CO2. Walz counters that Trump called climate change a hoax and then said that it would create more beachfront properties.
How is the budget deficit supposed to work?
Both vice candidates should explain their economic plans: Harris’ proposals for tax breaks on companies and more housing would increase the deficit by $1.2 trillion, Trump’s tax cuts and other projects by $5.8 trillion, according to the moderators . In his answer, Walz refers to a planned “fair” tax on the rich and to experts, Vance fusses a bit and replies that these experts have also recommended that American jobs be relocated overseas; this is personal to him, this is where he shines. Later, Vance would say the plans were financed by tariffs on imports from China and elsewhere because they employed “slave workers” and thereby depressed wages for Americans. Such countries and companies that withdraw jobs from the USA would have to be punished.
Vance versus Walz is also a duel of different ideas about what the American Midwest means. The presidential election will be decided in the region’s twelve states: Michigan and Wisconsin are among them and are a key to the White House. Who these two battleground states winning is almost at the door. Walz speaks of opportunities and the future, a “politics of joy”, Vance of failures and things that have been lost.
On the day of the TV duel, Trump’s campaign team released an emotional advertising clip with Vance’s voice of reason and understanding. “Many people feel that if you work hard and stick to the rules, it’s a little more difficult to get ahead,” says the running mate over the sound of a piano. In his hometown in the 1990s, many people no longer expected the future to be better than the past. “This is unique and tragic.” He portrays himself as representing white workers, not one “from the DC swamp.”
The Republican is influenced by his childhood and youth in Ohio, where globalization cost many workers their jobs. The white workers in the Rust Belt, which stretches across many states and convinced Trump in 2016 with his attacks on the “elite” in Washington. Vance has only been in politics for a few years, while Walz has been in politics for almost two decades. He was a member of Congress for twelve years and has been governor of Minnesota for almost six years; He portrays the agricultural state as family-friendly, hard-working and social.
Vance: Start with a million deportations
Vance shows himself to be a decent, sensible candidate, not a loudspeaker. But he announces that after an election victory he will first deport a million immigrants who are criminals. He blames Harris for the “historic immigration crisis” in the country and declares it to be the cause of a multitude of problems: it has increased the drug crisis, illegal immigrants are smuggling vast quantities of the deadly opioid fentanyl into the country, hospitals are overloaded and the American population has to go along with it Millions of illegal immigrants compete for already scarce living space.
Walz accuses his opponent of denigrating innocent people. Walz believes that his claims demonize a large number of people who enter the USA legally and that migrants should not be blamed for everything. When it comes to living space, we should rather look at Wall Street speculators who bought up real estate and thus drove up prices. When things get more and more heated, Vance vehemently insults the moderators and Walz doesn’t want to let things go, they cool them down by simply turning off their microphones.
The Democrats’ trump card is the conflict over abortion rights. Among voters up to the age of 45, it is crucial for their vote. A majority of them support Harris because she wants to guarantee abortions. Vance initially takes the wind out of Walz’s sails with an admission. “I know that many Americans don’t agree with everything I’ve ever said on this issue,” said the Republican, accusing the Democrat of a radical “pro-abortion” stance. It is also right to leave the regulation of abortions to the individual states.
Rolls strong on social issues
The longer the debate lasts, the more confident Walz becomes. This also has to do with the fact that the social issues come at the end: on health insurance he debates Vance against the wall, on abortion Vance pulls his head out of the noose a little with an admission that the Republicans have to regain trust , but there too the Democrat argues impressively: “This matter is not about states, but about women,” counters Walz. Democrats are not pro-abortion, but pro-choice: “We are pro-freedom.” He supports his arguments with personal stories, such as that of Amber Thurman, who died as a result of a botched abortion because she had to travel almost 1,000 kilometers to another state to receive the necessary medical care.
Even if in previous election years the debates between the running mate candidates had virtually no demonstrable impact on the polls: the duel is advertising for a political debate according to previous rules. Towards the end, Walz and Vance seem to like each other, express their sympathy or emphasize similarities. The tens of millions of viewers in the USA apparently see this positively: an overwhelming 88 percent say they felt the same way about the debate. They didn’t see a winner. Not yet.