US vice presidential contenders J.D. Vance and Tim Walz face off in what could be an unusually important undercard debate Tuesday as they compete for decisive votes in Americaโs heartland just weeks before the election.
The showdown between Walz, the Democratic Minnesota governor chosen by Kamala Harris, and Vance, the Republican senator from Ohio who is Donald Trumpโs running mate, is likely to be the last of the 2024 campaign.
Trump has refused a second debate with Vice President Harris, meaning this could be the final chance to see the two tickets go head to head.
Vance, 40, and Walz, 60, each claim to be the true voice of the crucial Midwestern swing statesโincluding Michigan and Wisconsinโthat could decide an election that remains on a knife edge with five weeks to go.
Both have been out of the spotlight lately, but Walz offered a brief message on X: โLooking forward to tonight.โ
History suggests vice presidential debates rarely move the dial much. However, Tuesdayโs contest may have added significance in an election campaign that has seen Harris step in for US President Joe Biden unprecedentedly late in the game.
The race has seen Vance and Trump use increasingly divisive rhetoric and even falsely accuse immigrants of eating peopleโs pets, meaning the debate is almost guaranteed to make for fiery television.
โIt will whet a lot of peopleโs appetites for November 5,โ Thomas Whalen, an associate professor of social sciences at Boston University, told AFP.
But the debate itself risked being overshadowed by Mideast tensions, after Iran launched ballistic missiles against Israel, which said it largely repelled the attack.
Trump, visiting swing state Wisconsin on Tuesday, made zero mention of Vance or the VP debate in a rambling address. But he did insist that โif I were in charge, todayโs attack on Israel never would have happened.โ
Should Harris and Walz win, he warned, โthe world goes up in smoke.โ
Harris for her part, pledged her โunwaveringโ commitment to the security of Israel after Iran launched what she called โa reckless and brazen attackโ on Americaโs ally.
She said she โfullyโ supported Bidenโs order for the US military to shoot down some of the missiles.
The CBS clash also comes as several states dig out from enormous storm Helene, which has left at least 130 people dead and brought misery to thousands more.
The devastation, and how to address such disasters, are likely to come up during the debate.
โ โHigh dramaโ โ
Walz and Vance were each picked by their bosses to reach out to voters in the Midwestern battlegrounds where, thanks to the countryโs idiosyncratic electoral college system, a few thousand votes could determine who wins the White House race.
Both are military veterans with strong blue-collar credentials. Vance authored the Rust Belt memoir โHillbilly Elegyโ while Walz boasts a folksy persona as a former teacher and football coach.
The similarities end there.
The combative Vance shares Trumpโs penchant for courting controversy, whether by smearing Democrats as โchildless cat ladiesโ or by boosting false claims that Haitians living in an Ohio town ate residentsโ pets.
His goal will be to overcome polls that initially had him as one of the least popular VP nominees in history, after a series of previous comments on women and abortion were unearthed.
โVance has to be careful, because I think a trap has been laid for him,โ said Whalen.
The cheery Walz will be seeking to introduce himself to a public that barely knows him, after Harrisโs swift rise to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee.
He became a hit with Democrats for branding Vance and Trump โweirdโ and for his progressive politics, but that will be a target for Vance as he and Trump seek to paint Walz and Harris as โMarxists.โ
Vance โis going up against a moron, a total moron,โ Trump said in an interview Monday on Fox Nation.
Televised debates have already proved their ability to shock this year, with Biden forced to drop his reelection bid after a disastrous performance against Trump in June brought long-simmering concerns about his age to the fore.
Whalen said few vice presidential debates have โhad any appreciable differenceโ in the past, but Tuesdayโs clash could produce โhigh dramaโ for viewers who love political theatre.
AFP
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