Outiside the site of the CBS News vice presidential debate between Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Tuesday evening, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
MIDWESTERN MELEE
Tim Walz and JD Vance will square up tonight for the first and only veep debate before the November election. The stakes are high for both of them.
- Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) waltzed onto the national stage less than two months ago, injecting a strong dose of good vibes into the Democratic campaign with few slip-ups. In charismatic campaign appearances, Walz has played into the image of an affable former football coach with off-the-charts dad energy. He also has a dozen years of experience in Congress under his belt, and is in his second term as governor of Minnesota. Another important gap that Walz fills in the campaign: He has been allowed to say what’s probably on Harris’s mind, things that might make her seem a bit less “presidential.”
- Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) is, in many ways, the antithesis of Walz as a veep candidate: Rather than being a charming and relatable speaker, Vance has mostly served as a less abrasive version of former President Donald Trump, though they hold the same far-right dreams. Sure, the 40-year-old senator has proven time and again that he can’t hold a normal conversation. Still, despite flip-flopping on issues and comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler, Vance presents himself as an academic-type who fully believes in the MAGA vision, at least as of his last two years in office. When Trump doesn’t want to explain his own words, Vance picks up the pieces and tries to add substance.
- Debates don’t normally sway public opinion, but both candidates have something to prove — and to lose. Walz has yet to suffer major hiccups on the campaign trail, weathering criticism he has received fairly well. Tonight is his first chance to directly address many Americans and solidify his image as a steady hand for Harris in office; a bad performance could puncture rosy perceptions of him. On the other side, Vance has been humiliated online repeatedly, so a lousy performance probably won’t change how he’s viewed. But the debate is a chance for him to prove to the MAGA base that he could be a competent torchbearer for the movement going forward. After all, Trump is 78 years old and experts say he’s showing signs of cognitive decline…
- Walz plans to hit hard on Trump’s “concept of a plan” for Americans’ health care, drawing a major contrast to how the Harris-Walz administration would protect individual freedoms, a Democratic strategist familiar with the debate strategy told What A Day. There’s no shortage of attack lines on the senator: Vance was prepped for the debate by a contributor to the far-right Project 2025 agenda, played a key role in pushing a false story about Haitian migrants eating pets, and bashed “childless cat ladies.” Expect Vance to attempt to tie Walz to the Biden administration’s immigration policy, and also hit the governor’s military record and relationship with China.
- The Trump campaign is already downplaying Vance’s chances at winning the debate: Walz won’t be “be the wildly gesticulating effeminate caricature we see at rallies pointing to Kamala Harris and dancing about on the stage,” Jason Miller, a longtime Trump aide, told reporters in a call previewing the debate. On Monday, Trump said the debate will be “stacked” against Vance.
Team Trump has reason to be worried: Midwesterners like Walz much more than Vance, according to a recent poll. And the Ohio senator has a lot of ground to make up after alienating women with cats… migrants… IVF patients… LGBT folks… and many others.
IRAN STRIKES
Iran shot at least 180 missiles at Israel today, a major escalation in the Middle East that follows almost a year of fighting between Israel and Iran-backed groups. American and Israeli officials said the attack was repelled.
Israeli officials said they plan on retaliating. Last week, Israel killed Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader of Hezbollah, in a bombing attack, and earlier today, the IDF began conducting raids in Lebanon against the group. Iranian leaders said in a statement that today’s missile attack was retaliation for the killing of Nasrallah, per the Associated Press. Top U.S. officials recently told Israel they supported its increased military pressure against Hezbollah, Politico reports. Hezbollah has said it would stop attacking Israel if Israel stops attacking Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 37 people in Gaza, according to local health officials. At least 20 people, including women and children, were killed at a refugee camp and a school, the officials said.
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- Jason Miller, a longtime aide to Donald Trump, in a call previewing the debate tonight
NEWS NEWS NEWS
Rescuers continued searching for people unaccounted for in North Carolina today in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, as the death toll reaches more than 150 people across six states.
The Justice Department is opening its first-ever review of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, when a white mob killed up to 300 people and decimated a thriving Black community in Oklahoma known as “Black Wall Street.”
Nevada’s Republican Party is angry about a massive, naked Trump statue suspended by a crane outside Las Vegas. People driving by “are forced to view this offensive marionette, designed intentionally for shock value rather than meaningful dialogue,” the party said in a statement. When has Trump ever inspired a meaningful dialogue?
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