VP debate set between Walz, Vance on Oct. 1
The vice presidential candidates have been sniping at each other on the campaign trail, but they will eventually get a chance to meet face-to-face.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance agreed to meet for a network TV debate on Oct. 1.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Harris campaign confirmed they had accepted an invitation for the Vice-Presidential debate.
“Harris for President has accepted CBS’ invitation to a Vice-Presidential Candidate Debate on Oct. 1. Governor Walz looks forward to debating JD Vance — if he shows up,” the statement reads.
On Thursday morning, JD Vance announced he had also accepted the debate scheduled for Oct. 1 and also accepted the CNN debate on Sept. 18, saying, “The American people deserve as many debates as possible, which is why President Trump has challenged to Kamala to three of them already.”
There has been no word yet on if Walz has accepted the Sept. 18 challenge.
The question is, will the debate or the vice presidential candidates really matter?
“They’re not really much of a factor and in general, vice presidential candidates really don’t matter,” says Hamline University political science professor David Schultz. “We live in a society where the best polls are suggesting 40% of Americans can’t even name who the vice president is.”
Minnesotans might tune in more than people in most states because the state’s governor will be participating. It will be a chance for Walz and Vance to go after each other on their records and for the media to ask questions. Whether we’ll hear worthwhile answers is another question.
“Even though that debate is set up where Walz and Vance are going to be pressed with some tough questions, as we know, unfortunately, oftentimes politicians and candidates for office figure out ways to answer without answering the question,” Schultz says.
Still, in a presidential race with potentially razor-thin margins in some battleground states, the vice presidential candidates could matter more than usual in 2024.
“If the presence of a particular candidate, vice presidential candidate, moves, let’s say, 5,000 or 4,000 votes in a Wisconsin or a Michigan or Pennsylvania, that could be enough to throw that state and be enough to determine the outcome of an election.”
A presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will take place on ABC News on Sept. 10, three weeks before the VP debate.
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