Oct. 1 saw Ohio senator J.D. Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz face off in a debate at New York City’s CBS Broadcast Center. The broad consensus seems to be that Vance came out on top, with Walz appearing wide eyed and flustered next to Vance’s more calm, cool and collected demeanor. Curiously, Walz seemed to spend a fair amount of the debate seemingly agreeing with many of Vance’s points.
“Tim, if you’re listening, you’re welcome to vote for us,” Vance said on the Ruthless Podcast. “You don’t have to tell anyone about it.”
The evening was a strong performance for Vance. The debate helped to position him as the more reasonable and agreeable of the two candidates.
The entire spectacle conjured up memories of the 1960 debate between Kennedy and Nixon, wherein Kennedy was the calm, collected and youthful frontrunner, juxtaposed with Nixon, who was sweating profusely and clearly uncomfortable.
While Walz made some bizarre statements like “I’ve become friends with school shooters,” Vance had some powerful moments on the debate stage. He was able to powerfully and compassionately invoke Christ when Walz described how his son had been a witness of gun violence firsthand.
“Tim, first of all, I didn’t know that your 17-year-old witnessed a shooting,” Vance said. “And I’m sorry about that and I just want to say, Christ have mercy. It is — it is awful.”
With about four weeks until the presidential election, the public’s perception will continue to develop.