The only scheduled Vice-Presidential debate of the 2024 election occurred on Oct. 1. The strategy for both Governor Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and Senator James Vance (R-Ohio) was two-fold; first, recommend their running mate to the public, and second, appear civil and personable to the viewers. Both candidates were less well known than their presidential running mates prior to this campaign, and each took the time to introduce himself, mentioning family, background and careers. Vance placed emphasis on primarily familial struggles, while Walz pointed to a long history of service in his communities. Throughout, the candidates spoke both to one another and their viewers, notably with several moments of agreement–albeit often with caveats. Both candidates ended their closing statements by asking the viewers to vote for their running mates, rather than themselves.
While the debate was civil in comparison to the presidential debate earlier in the campaign, the vice presidential candidates presented differences no less stark than their running mates in how issues– including all those ensuing, to gun violence, reproductive freedom, and public health–should be addressed.
Israel
Both candidates were asked whether they would support a preemptive strike by Israel against Iran. Both candidates supported Israel’s right to defend itself, and the United States’ duty to support its ally militarily. Each emphasized that their running mate was a strong leader capable of seeing the US through the conflict. Vance stated that it was up to Israel to choose how to defend itself and that the US should support its allies “wherever they are when they’re fighting the bad guys.” Similarly, Walz called the expansion of Israel an “absolute fundamental necessity for the United States.” Only Walz noted the importance of “ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” Neither the debate coordinators nor the candidates mentioned Palestine again.
On foreign policy in general, Walz focused on the importance of maintaining stability through long-term alliances with other countries, while Vance said that Trump had “delivered stability in the world,” by making people “fear the United States,” and criticized the Biden-Harris administration’s diplomatic negotiations with Iran.
Environment & Hurricane Helene
Both candidates expressed sympathy for the people affected by Hurricane Helene and supported a federal and state response to the crisis.
Vance acknowledged that an increasing number of intense storms have occurred in recent years, but cast doubt on whether these were caused by carbon emissions–calling it “weird science”–and extolled the virtues of American manufacturing and energy production. He noted that, unlike the “dirty” economies of countries that used slave laborers, the US was “clean.”
Walz acknowledged climate change from carbon emissions as the cause of more powerful storms and emphasized the importance of bipartisan efforts from governors to aid disaster areas. He then called attention to Trump’s past remarks both denying and trivializing climate change, in contrast to the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which created jobs in solar energy across the country.
“Vance placed emphasis on primarily on familial struggles, while Walz pointed to a longer history of service in his communities.”
Immigration & Housing
Vance named immigration–and an alleged large number of illegal immigrants–as the cause of problems from the price of housing and food to the presence of fentanyl in the US. He called for mass deportation, evaded answering clarifying questions from CBS about whether his policies would separate immigrant parents from children born in the US and blamed the Biden-Harris administration’s policies for allowing immigrants into the country. When CBS moderator Margaret Brennan stated that “Springfield Ohio does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status: temporary protected status,” Vance interrupted to say, “The rules were that you guys weren’t gonna fact check,” and began to explain the minutiae of a paperwork process.
Walz advocated primarily for his and Harris’ support of a bill that would provide resources to reduce the time required to process asylum applications from seven years to 90 days. When asked about housing prices, Walz attributed the rise to people on Wall Street buying up property as an opportunity for profit.
Democracy
While there were several exchanges about upholding democracy in the United States, one stood out:
After reminding the viewers of the events of Jan. 6, and Trump’s efforts to pressure various governors to deny the 2020 election results, Walz turned to Vance and asked whether he would confirm that he believed Trump had lost the 2020 election. When Vance evaded the question, Walz called it a “damning non-answer.”
