Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz will meet Tuesday night for the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate, and it will likely be more consequential compared to other vice presidential debates in the past, which have historically not mattered all that much to voters.
“This situation, I think, is a bit unusual,” said Cayce Myers, a professor at Virginia Tech who specializes in political communication.
It is the only debate scheduled between Vance and Walz, and it does not appear that there will be another presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of Election Day.
“This is it for the campaign season,” said Myers. “One of the things that you may see is sort of an outsized viewership and greater interest in what’s going to be said, simply because of the fact that this is going to be the final word, so to speak.”
Another unique aspect is the fact that the polls show Trump and Harris essentially tied.
“The polls are such that it is a dead heat.” Myers said. “I think that this debate can have a lot of impact, and it can be consequential in a way that past debates have not been.”
Walz, the 60-year-old Minnesota governor, and Vance, a 40-year-old U.S. senator from Ohio, have previewed potential approaches for weeks.
Where to watch the 2024 vice presidential debate in DC
Walz, before Harris selected him, was the Democrat who coined “weird” as a go-to pejorative for the Republican ticket. Vance assails the governor’s progressive record as proof Democrats are too far left for casual voters.
Vance has mocked his fellow veteran’s military service record; Walz hammered Vance’s opposition to abortion rights and his views on family values.
“It will be aggressive,” said Myers. “They’re surrogates for their candidates, so you’re going to see a lot of attacks both ways against Harris and Trump and the VP candidates are going to have to defend their top-of-ticket candidate records and positions.”
The matchup, hosted by CBS News in New York, starts at 9 p.m. ET.
It will be moderated by Norah O’Donnell, “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor, and Margaret Brennan, “Face the Nation” moderator and CBS News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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