Vance and Walz remain moderate in policy-focused debate: Key points from the vice presidential debate

WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and J.D. Vance took part Tuesday in what could be the final debate of the 2024 presidential campaign, focusing their criticism on the election. concentrated at the top of the battle.

It was the first meeting between Minnesota's Democratic governor and Ohio's Republican senator, following last month's debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. It took place just five weeks before Election Day, allowing millions of voters to vote early.

Tuesday's standoff unfolded as Iran fired a missile at Israel, raising the stakes of the contest again, while a devastating hurricane and a potentially debilitating port attack reel the country at home. As Walz and Vance introduced themselves to the country, they repeatedly explained the differences in their vice presidential candidates' policies and personalities.

Here are some takeaways from Tuesday's debate.

As the Middle East descends into turmoil, Waltz promises “stable leadership” and Vance proposes “peace through strength.”

Iran's ballistic missile attack on Israel on Tuesday highlighted the division between Democrats and Republicans on foreign policy. Walz promised “stable leadership” under Harris, while Vance promised a return to “peace through strength” once Trump returns to the White House.

Differences in visions of what American leadership should look like obscured the clear policy differences between the two tickets.

Iran's threat to the region and U.S. interests around the world sparked the discussion, and Walz turned the conversation to criticizing Trump.

“The fundamental thing here is that stable leadership is going to be important,” Walz said, before “Donald Trump, who is nearly 80 years old, talked about crowd size” and responded to a global crisis with a tweet. I mentioned that.

Mr. Vance attacked Mr. Harris and her role in the Biden administration, dismissed Mr. Walz's criticism of Trump, and promised to restore “effective deterrence” against Iran under the Trump administration.

“The answer to the question of who has been my vice president for the past three and a half years is not my vice president, it's your vice president,” he said. He pointedly pointed out that Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 occurred “during the Kamala Harris administration.”

Vance and Waltz punch each other instead of punching each other.

Vance and Waltz trained most of their attacks against their running mates, who were not present, rather than their on-stage rivals.

Both vice presidential candidates tried to convey a friendly atmosphere while criticizing Harris and Trump, respectively.

This reflected the fact that most voters did not base their votes on the vice president or the vice presidential candidate's historical role as the vice presidential candidate's attack dog.

Walz harshly attacked President Trump for failing to deliver on his promise to build a physical barrier along the entire U.S.-Mexico border at the expense of our southern neighbor.

“Less than 2% of the wall was built, and Mexico didn't pay a dime,” Walz said.

Emphasizing the focus on the top of the ticket during an exchange about immigration, Vance told his opponent: “I think you want to solve this problem, but Kamala Harris doesn't think so.”

It was a volatile policy debate, with talk about risk pools, housing regulation, and energy policy.

In an age of world-class social media-optimized dissing, Tuesday's debate was a detour from the essentials. Both candidates took a modest approach and were keen to dig into the details.

When Walz was a member of Congress in 2009, he dug into the draft of the Affordable Care Act and pressed Vance on the senator's argument that President Trump, who had tried to repeal the law, had actually helped preserve it. Mr. Vance defended his claim that illegal immigrants are driving up home prices, citing Federal Reserve research to support it. Walz talked about how Minneapolis tinkered with local regulations to increase housing supply. They spoke about the overlap between energy policy, trade and climate change.

It was a very different style from what has often been seen in presidential debates over the past few election cycles.

Vance remains defensive on abortion

Walz repeatedly attacked Vance over abortion access and reproductive rights as the Ohio senator tried to argue that a matrix of state-by-state abortion laws was the ideal approach for the United States. Walz countered that women's “fundamental rights” should not be determined “by geography.”

“This is a very simple proposition: These are women's decisions,” Walz said. “We trust women. We trust doctors.”

Walz cited the death of Amber Thurman, who waited more than 20 hours at the hospital for a routine medical procedure known as a D&C to remove tissue left behind after taking abortion pills. I tried to make this issue personal. She developed sepsis and died.

Rather than avoid the mention, Vance at one point agreed with Waltz that “Amber Thurman should still be alive.”

Mr. Vance steered the conversation toward Republican proposals to financially support women and children and avoid the need for abortions. But Walz countered that policies such as tax credits, expanded child care support and a fairer economy could be pursued while still allowing women to make their own decisions about abortion.

Both candidates put a twist on climate change at home

In the wake of Hurricane Helen, Mr. Vance was asked about climate change and answered about jobs and manufacturing, bypassing Mr. Trump's past claims that global warming is a “hoax.”

Vance argued that the best way to combat climate change is to move more manufacturing to the United States because it has the cleanest energy economy in the world. This was a distinctly domestic spin on a global crisis, especially after President Trump withdrew the United States from the international Paris climate accord during his administration.

Walz also kept the focus on climate change domestic, touting the Biden administration's renewable energy investments and record levels of oil and natural gas production. “I see us becoming an energy superpower in the future,” Walz said.

It was a decidedly optimistic take on a pervasive and severe global problem.

Walz and Vance each criticize opposing presidential candidates for stalling immigration issues

Both vice presidential candidates agreed that the number of illegal immigrants in the United States is a problem. But each placed the blame on the opposing presidential candidate.

Mr. Vance repeatedly referred to Ms. Harris as a “border czar” and suggested that she aligned herself with Mr. Trump and that, as vice president, she single-handedly reversed immigration restrictions that Mr. Trump had imposed as president. As a result, Vance said, fentanyl is flowing unchecked, straining state and local resources and increasing home prices across the country.

Harris was never asked to be a “border czar” or specifically given responsibility for border security. She was tasked by Biden in March 2021 with the task of addressing the “root causes” of migration from Central American countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador and encouraging leaders there and Mexico to enforce immigration laws. . Harris had no authority to set U.S. immigration policy. Only the president can sign executive orders, and Harris was not authorized to represent Biden in immigration negotiations with Congress.

Walz pushed the Democratic argument that Trump single-handedly tore up a bipartisan Senate agreement to strengthen border security and increase processing capacity for immigrants and asylum seekers. Walz noted that Republicans only pulled out of the deal after President Trump said it wasn't good enough.

Both candidates relied on tried-and-true debate tactics, such as not answering difficult questions.

Asked directly whether President Trump's promise to deport millions of illegal immigrants would exclude the parents of U.S.-born children, Vance did not respond to the question. Instead, the senator tried to put the biggest twist on Trump's plan to pivot to a Harris attack that would use the military to help deport the country and secure porous borders. Asked to respond to President Trump's call of climate change a “hoax,” Vance also declined to respond.

The debate began with Walz being asked whether he supported a pre-emptive strike by Israel against Iran. Walz praised Harris' foreign policy leadership but did not respond to the question.

And at the end of the debate, Vance did not respond to Walz's direct question about whether Trump really lost the 2020 election.

Waltz throws a staggering punch on an uneven night

Walz admitted one night that he had several stumbles over his words and frequently “misspoke.” At the beginning of the debate, when discussing the Middle East, he confused Iran and Israel.

At one point he said he had “been friends with the school shooter,” and stumbled over an inaccurate statement about whether he was in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. (He wasn't.)

But the governor put Vance noticeably on the defensive on abortion, and late in the debate asked a pointed question about whether Trump won the 2020 election.

Mr. Vance nearly died during the January 6th riot.

When Mr. Vance did not retract his statement that he had not certified Mr. Trump's defeat in the 2020 election, the candidates tried to be civil with each other until the end.

Vance tried to shift the issue to Democrats' attempts to censor people on social media, saying “the far greater threat to democracy” is that Democrats are trying to censor people on social media. But Waltz didn't let go.

“This is troubling to me,” Walz said, noting that he had just praised some of Vance's answers. He criticized the way Trump tried to overturn his 2020 loss, noting that the candidate still claims he won the race. Walz then asked Vance if Trump really lost the election.

Mr. Vance responded by asking whether Mr. Harris censored people.

“That's a complete non-answer,” said Walz, who was not at the debate as Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, confronted Trump on January 6, 2021, presiding over the congressional confirmation. He pointed out that. The former president's defeat.

“America,” Waltz concluded. “I think we've made a really clear choice in this election about who respects democracy and who respects Donald Trump.”