The vice presidential nominees, Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Democrat Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, are set to debate on Oct. 1, one month before the 2024 election. CBS News will host the 90-minute debate with Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan as moderators. The debate will have no opening statements, and each candidate will have time to answer questions and provide rebuttals. The candidates will stay behind their podiums for the duration of the debate, which will not have a studio audience. Vance and Walz are preparing diligently for the showdown, with Vance enlisting Rep. Tom Emmer as a stand-in for Walz and Walz seeking help from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. The debate promises to showcase their contrasting styles and approaches to key issues facing the nation.
“He is a personable speaker, shaped by the norms of conversation,” Murphy told The Epoch Times.
Vance has criticized Walz for mischaracterizing his retirement rank with the Minnesota National Guard.
Vance served in the Marine Corps as a public affairs officer and was deployed to Iraq for six months.
Walz has defended his military record, which includes 24 years in the National Guard, but the Harris campaign recently admitted he misspoke in a 2018 video where he mentioned “weapons of war that I carried into war.” He has never served in combat.
Aaron Dusso, a political science professor from Indiana University-Indianapolis, said the best strategy for both candidates is to always “try and seem competent on the issues that are not your campaign’s strength and then move as quickly as possible to talking about the issues that are your strength.”
“So Walz will want to continue to emphasize reproductive freedom and social issues like health care and education and continue to hammer Project 2025,” Dusso told The Epoch Times.
Vance, on the other hand, should stick to policy and avoid ad-libbing, Dusso added.
“Be a policy wonk; stick to the border, economy, and crime … even though crime is down and the economy is doing pretty well, it’s still best for Republicans to focus on those issues because the average voter sees those issues as their strengths,” he said.
Lawrence Wilson and Reuters contributed to this report.
