In their first and only scheduled debate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota discussed lots of issues, from the Middle East to abortion to affordable housing and health care. Shockingly, at least by the standards of recent presidential debates, the two candidates seemed pleased with each other in finding areas of common ground. Still, Times Opinion kept score — and the consensus was that, as Ross Douthat put it, "it was a commanding performance" for Vance. A majority of our columnists and contributors agreed. The contributing Opinion writer Megan Stack said, "Vance nimbly reframed questions to his advantage, sounded deeply concerned about ordinary Americans and managed to appear forthright even when sidestepping or dissembling. Vance ran circles around Walz." Several writers who scored it for Vance were nevertheless lukewarm in their praise. Take Jamelle Bouie, who wrote: "He has spent most of his adult life selling himself to the wealthy, the powerful and the influential. He is as smooth and practiced as they come." We had two counts of a draw. Farah Stockman, a Times editorial board member, was one of them. She wrote that "Vance did an excellent job of impersonating a decent man." Walz got faint approval for his debate skills, with Charles M. Blow remarking that "you could tell that he was a teacher, because he clearly did his homework." Vice-presidential debates have not typically made lasting impacts on presidential elections. We don't know how voters will respond to this one — or if they'll respond at all. But the Times contributing Opinion writer Pete Wehner suggests one surprising potential response: "Vance's excellent reviews will enrage Trump. So will the fact that Vance seemed more interested in repairing his own image than being Trump's attack dog." Here's what we're focusing on today:
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Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Opinion Today: Who won the vice-presidential debate?
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