Originally published at: Vance Rolls Out Alternate-Reality Persona, And Other Takeaways From The 2024 Vice Presidential Debate - TPM – Talking Points Memo
The first and likely only vice presidential debate of 2024 was a far cry from the emotional roller coaster of the first two presidential debates, the first of which ended President Joe Biden’s candidacy and the second of which drew a profound contrast between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump. The discussion tonight…
Mr Vance will be in for a real shock, should the Trump/Vance ticket somehow win on November 5, when he learns that NO! it isn’t “the Vance Administration”, that he doesn’t get to issue “Executive Orders”, that he doesn’t set policy.
Let’s all make sure he never gets un-disillusioned.
So the Screw York Times had Douthart declaring Vance won the debate. Nevermind that his article was written on 9/25
Separated at birth?
Well, do you not understand Journo 101? “The Narrative” is decided months, even years, in advance. This makes it possible for op-edders to write their pieces well in advance and maybe tweak them with a few “recent” details (“deets”) to look “current.”
The Times is in the can for Republicans. Why shouldn’t they pre-write their debate “summaries”?
Can’t say what everyone else saw, Gov. Walz clearly was the stable debater.
Equate all the media observation, one candidate clearly expressed ideas, the other ideology. We all saw the difference, do you want results or dystopic rhetoric.
Like most VP debates, this one won’t move the needle very much. There were relatively minor face plants and knock-out blows. Each political faction of viewers can see what they want in order to reinforce their firmly-held beliefs.
When it comes down to deciding winners and losers, there was no clear winner, but certainly one clear loser—Donald Trump. Regardless of how you feel about the different personal beliefs and philosophies of Waltz and Vance, they were both able to formulate answers (or have the presence of mind to intentionally evade them on the fly), express ideas without constant detours, extraneous references and lost thoughts, and to formulate complete sentences—all without slurring. They were both aware of who they were, where they were, who was watching, and the importance of what they were going to say next. Donald Trump no longer has any of those skills.
I don’t like Vance. But he is clearly and obviously more mentally competent than his running mate. And, by comparison, that makes Trump the clear and obvious loser in this debate. Trump is, in every way, intellectually, morally, mentally and emotionally inferior to his VP running mate. If this was a race for president between Vance and Trump, Vance would win in a landslide. Even Vance, on his best, evasive, most sycophantic behavior, reveals Donald Trump as a certified loser.
The Trump/Vance whole agenda in a nutshell. Little hint for the undecided out there. They talk a good game but it is all lies.
There is so much land on which to build housing for the people who need it. That was the answer to the trick question regarding places to put all the new houses. I imagined having a house provided to me that was out in all that empty land and then I wondered, “how would I get to work?”
Vance is no fool (an idiot, but not a fool), he’s planning on being #1 when The King keels over. There is no doubt in my mind that Vance has calculated the odds on Trump making it 4 more years. I’m sure he has his own plan for a beautiful theocratic dictatorship with him as #1.
I hate the no the fact checking agreements. The after debate discussion would be completely different if Vance had been called out in real time. He knows it and that is why he had a slip of saying “I thought there wasn’t going to be any fact checking”. It wrong and is a great disservice for the voting public. It really pisses me off.
At some ignominious point in the recent past, American “journalism” traded truth-telling for “balance”.
Admitting the obvious-to-even-the-average-toddler fact that one side is a perpetual fountain of lies would be a disturbance in that hellbent imperative within Cult of Balance.
Sucks to be the voting public.
No one, not the moderators, not the analysts talked about the alternative electors debating with congress. It was the most absurd thing Vance said.
The main jobs of VP candidates are to do no harm and take over if the president is incapacitated. While it’s clear Walz meets both tests, Vance doesn’t. His slick persona turns off people, whereas Walz personifies decency. Also, Vance has never run anything. He’s just a talking head.
In the end, Vance don’t kill off his candidacy in the debate, but Walz clearly came off as more likable and authoritative in a real world sense.
I got the distinct impression from Vance’s debate performance that he has no idea what the job of VP entails. I guess he wasn’t paying attention in his high school government class. 12th graders across the nation must be rolling on the floor laughing their heads off at his ignorance.
The media needs to sell “JD the winner” to ensure it doesnt break away for Harris.
However the memorable moments from each are…
“No fair, no fact checks”
“Damning non answer”
God, so many of the photos here capture why it’s hard for me to look at Vance. Not because I loathe him (although I do), but because you can so easily read that he is a person awash in an ocean of anguish and rage, trying to pretend to be happy and normal. None of his “positive” expressions make it to his eyes. The only time he seems genuine is when he’s attacking a journalist or otherwise expressing anger. It’s painful to see.
Why do we even do these debates anymore? These do not inform the American people about anything relating to policy. the issues facing this country and the proposed policies to address these issues are far too complex to be hashed out with 2 minute answers and 1 minute rebuttals. it seems that the metrics for these ridiculous events is whoever can lie most slickly or spout talking points most confidently or pivot to a non answers most smoothly “ wins”. The world is too complicated for this format to be useful. And don’t even get me started on the current vogue in journalism to strive for balance rather than truth.