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5 Takeaways from the Vice Presidential Debate

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5 Takeaways from the Vice Presidential Debate

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. J.D. Vance kept the personal attacks to a minimum during their first and only presidential debate on Tuesday night, with topics like the ongoing drama over the size of the campaign rally topping the list.

Instead, the dueling running mates introduced themselves to voters on their biggest stage yet ahead of the Nov. 5 election. They went out of their way to highlight areas of agreement, even though the Democratic and Republican tickets offer starkly different versions of America.

The candidates discussed immigration and the economy during their time on stage, and Arizona came up twice in discussions about health care and abortion.

The candidates were more likely to criticize the candidates at the top of the list than each other. Yet former President Donald Trump’s name was mentioned almost twice as often as Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a rough transcript of the debate. The former president was mentioned about 120 times. Harris’ name appeared about 70 times, the transcript showed.

The debate was surprisingly civil

Throughout the evening, Vance, R-Ohio, and Walz did their best to note points they agreed on. Their appeal to the center showed how both campaigns want to win over a small group of undecided, independent voters in November.

“Government. Walz and I probably agree that we need to do better in this area, the only question is how do we actually do that,” Vance said during a conversation about curbing gun violence in schools. Vance has reinforced schools with stronger windows and doors. , while Walz proposed using the country of Finland as a model as a nation with high gun ownership and low gun violence.

At another point, Walz tried to reach an agreement with Vance on child care costs.

“I don’t think Senator Vance and I are that far apart,” Walz said.

Fact checking via the network was kept to a minimum

The CBS News moderators deliberately did not include fact checks during the debate, opting instead to have the candidates fact check each other.

However, moderators intervened when the conversation turned to immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio. Vance claimed on stage that schools, hospitals and the housing market there are “overwhelmed” by illegal immigrants.

“Just to be clear for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio, has a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected status,” said moderator Margaret Brennan.

Vance quickly reminded the audience that the moderators agreed to keep fact checks to a minimum.

“The rules were you couldn’t do fact checking,” Vance said. “Since you’re fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s really going on.”

Walz published his own fact check during another immigration exchange, noting that he would do so instead of relying on the moderators.

“I think we’ve agreed not to do any fact checking. I’ll check,” Walz said.

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Vice presidential candidates’ microphones cut out during a conversation about immigration

CBS New moderators turned off the microphones of vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz during their debate.

Swing state Arizona gets two debate nights

Vance dropped Arizona when the debate turned to the issue of abortion. Vance and Trump are campaigning on state-level abortion laws rather than federal legislation.

“We have a big country and it is diverse,” he said. “California has a different position than Georgia on this. Georgia has a different position than Arizona.”

Reproductive rights are a top priority in the Grand Canyon State this election season. A proposal to amend the Arizona Constitution to protect access to abortion will appear on the ballot in November. The issue is expected to work in Democrats’ favor this year amid Republican Party-led restrictions on abortion.

Later, Walz mentioned the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as he reminded viewers of Republicans’ efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act near the start of Trump’s term.

During his 2016 campaign, Trump often promised to dismantle the law.

“He would have repealed the ACA if John McCain hadn’t had the courage to save that bill,” Walz said.

McCain torpedoed the repeal attempt and cast his tie-breaking vote with a dramatic thumbs down. He argued at the time that the reform would have rolled back provisions of the ACA that he disagreed with, but would not have created a suitable alternative.

McCain and Trump traded barbs frequently after Trump announced his bid for the presidency in 2015. The feud began when McCain objected to Trump’s comments characterizing immigrants from Mexico as “rapists” and “criminals.”

Things escalated when Trump mocked McCain’s record as a prisoner of war, saying McCain was “a war hero because he was captured” and that he loved “people who weren’t captured.” The North Vietnamese held McCain as a prisoner of war for more than five years.

Aided by the support of McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, Biden carried Arizona in the 2020 presidential election, in part because Trump underperformed in traditionally Republican areas of Maricopa County.

Immigration remains an important issue in the 2024 elections

The topic of immigration came up within the first 17 minutes of the debate, and Vance tried to turn the conversation back to immigration even as other issues were on the table.

Vance said Harris has “opened the floodgates” by repealing many of Trump’s policies, such as the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as “Remain in Mexico.” He said a Trump administration would continue building a border wall and expanding deportations, especially by going after migrants with criminal records.

For his part, Walz pointed to Harris’ experience prosecuting border-related crimes as California’s attorney general. He blamed Trump for undermining a bipartisan border deal earlier this year, a common refrain from Harris during his campaign.

“This is what happens when you don’t want to solve it, you demonize,” Walz said.

Vance defended his comments, claiming that unregulated migration was causing enormous problems in small communities.

“The people I’m most concerned about are American citizens,” Vance said.

Both candidates are trying to appeal to middle-class voters

The first reference to economic issues came in response to a question from moderators about Hurricane Helene and climate change. Walz said the country has emerged as an energy superpower, with increased clean energy production a cornerstone.

However, Vance criticized Chinese components in solar panels and urged more investment in natural gas.

Later, moderators asked the candidates how they could prevent their platforms from adding to the federal deficit.

Walz praised Harris’ policies, which he said are intended to help middle-class families. For example, he cited her proposal to approve new down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, an expanded child tax credit and a substantial increase in tax credits meant to help small businesses.

Vance countered that the Biden-Harris administration has hurt middle-class households and others by fueling inflation, driving up food costs by 25% and housing by 60%.

Trump’s tenure as president, Vance said, was marked by low inflation averaging 1.5% per year and higher tax rates for workers. Vance also praised the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which he said created an economic boom.

“It’s common sense,” Vance said.

Walz described Trump’s tax legislation as a package that gave millionaires, including Trump himself, pause. The tax law, introduced in 2017, is expected to expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress and the next president approve its continuation.

Reporters Rafael Carranza, Stephanie Innes and Russ Wiles contributed to this story.

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