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We have already had two presidential debates. Probably that will be it for this cycle (see above). But we do have one vice presidential debate, next Tuesday, between Tim Walz and J.D. Vance. It will be hosted by CBS in New York, which, last we checked, is not a swing state. The debate will be moderated by two women: Norah O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan. We suspect abortion is likely to come up once or twice.
Given how much news Vance has made recently by lying about Haitians eating cats and dogs, it could be a real humdinger. Also, unlike Donald Trump, Vance is very smart and is not likely to fall into any traps Walz might try to set for him. This is not to say the debate will be entirely about the issues, but they will play a bigger role than in the presidential debate. Walz understands this and is already holding mock debates. His stand-in for Vance is Pete Buttigieg. Buttigieg has a very sharp tongue and is a good stand-in for Vance, which is undoubtedly why Walz asked him to do it. It must feel odd for Buttigieg to try to goad and irritate a guy he likes by repeatedly lying and hitting below the belt, but that's how today's debates are.
The debate prep is not being organized by Karen Dunn. She deals only with the top of the ticket. Biden White House alumni Rob Friedlander and Zayn Siddique are running the prep show. Walz is also holding policy sessions with members of the campaign team so he can give actual answers to questions should the need arise.
Walz is also trying to lower expectations. He said that he will be up against a Yale Law School graduate who is currently a U.S. senator. He expects Vance will be well prepared and that is likely to be true. Unlike Trump, Vance will probably also listen to his prep team and try to absorb what they have to tell him. He is also known to be a skilled debater.
The conventional wisdom is that vice presidential candidates don't matter much and their debates matter even less. Nevertheless, in a really close election, half a point here and half a point there could matter. Walz' team has probably drilled a couple of key facts into his head, like there are 65 million households with a dog in America and 47 million with a cat. Only 11 million have a pet fish. The moderators might just throw out a sentence containing "dog" and "food" and not with the intention of asking the candidates what they feed their pets. (V)