Previewing Vance-Walz
Terry H. Schwadron
Oct. 1, 2024
Maybe we can pretend that the vice-presidential debate scheduled for tonight between Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., will show something beyond wild differences in personalities and perceptions of joy.
We are more likely to witness a slugfest of slogans from the stand-ins for the presidential candidates, and a pounding at whether American life is even worth living anymore if the other side wins the election.
In one corner is the work of Vance’s dark vision, where immigrants are eating pets and taking jobs from Americans, ignoring all measures of national economic health and a desire for more workers, particularly for our lowest-wage jobs. As Donald Trump’s stalking horse, sees a country beset by systems that crater unnecessarily to international demands and that only skirt the ravages of racism towards preservation of some kind of American Dream that he can see.
In the other will the Coach, Walz’s avatar for joy in hard teamwork. His is an ever-upbeat world of possibility and the responsibility to create opportunity for all, a practitioner of the politics of the reasonable. It has been Walz’s sense of possibility that has helped buoy the prospects for a Kamala Harris win not only as president, but as a team that can pull through division.
As we know from their own words, Vance believes that truth is fungible, so long as it helps tell a greater truth from his point of view. So, stories about immigrants, with legal documentation or not, can be subjected to harassment and eventual deportation without evidence. Walz believes in truth so long as you don’t apply it strictly to his own resume.
For 90 minutes, be prepared to have policy-laden desires set aside for one-liners that will seek to score political points that are likely to move the needle not at all. Indeed, it is the personalities of the two that are likely to be the night’s survivors. The moderators and questioners are CBS’ Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, and the usual rules apply.
As Politico and other politics sites have noted, Walz was first launched into internet virality for calling Trump and Vance “weird.” Vance has spent his campaign time attacking Walz’s military record over the timing of his resignation from the National Guard after 24 years and an election to Congress but before a deployment to Iraq.
It is necessary to think of either of these two as a possible president, of course, but at least to consider each as a close presidential adviser and not just a campaign bulldog. Since Trump and Harris are unlikely to appear together in another “debate” before the election, we should expect these two to play roles mostly as stand-ins for their ticket mates.
Unless it is surprising, it appears an unlikely event for learning or for mind changing.
If choosing one party over the other is your goal, you may be better off searching for recent stories about vote limits, or the building disputes over how to count the vote, or even a detailed story in The Washington Post about how the argument over transgenders in public school sports is affecting a single family in Florida.
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