The biggest winner of the Vance-Walz vice presidential debate: civility | Opinion
On substance and style, there was a clear winner in Tuesday night’s first and only vice presidential debate, but I will leave it to others to tell you who and why.
Because I believe the biggest takeaway from the night wasn’t who won, it was how both candidates conducted themselves.
In what felt like a throwback to a bygone era of politics, Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz behaved civilly — dare I say, even statesmanlike.
It was so refreshing that it was almost shocking.
Who would have thought it possible, this day and age, to see and hear two individuals with vastly different ideologies and policy solutions discuss and disagree about them without constantly insulting one another?
Both candidates even conceded the good intentions of their opponent on multiple occasions, blaming misguided policy ideas instead of ill intent.
They even almost agreed from time to time.
“I don’t think that Senator Vance and I are that far apart,” Walz said when asked about child care policy.
And before closing out the evening, Vance offered his assistance to his Democratic counterpart: “If Tim Walz is the next vice president, he’ll have my prayers, he’ll have my best wishes, and he’ll have my help whenever he wants it.”
The entire event was marked by polite and substantive, often thoughtfully worded responses, making it almost pleasant to watch. it was a far-cry from the debate between their running mates, which amounted to little more than a cringe-worthy insult-fest.
It hardly seems possible in an era that is marked by some of the most incendiary political rhetoric in modern memory that a debate audience should be subjected to anything less than endless invective between the candidates.
Last night, it got to see what political debates used to look like — and what they might be again.
Civility won and that’s a reason for hope in our nation’s political future.
This story was originally published October 2, 2024 at 10:05 AM with the headline "The biggest winner of the Vance-Walz vice presidential debate: civility | Opinion."
