When it comes to electing the president of the United States, vice presidential candidates rarely make a difference. The job has often been maligned, even by those who have been vice president. But history has taught us to pay attention to the people who could be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Going into last week’s vice presidential debate, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Republican Sen. JD Vance both knew what they had to do. Walz had to be himself. Vance had to be somebody other than himself. Both succeeded.
Walz was the regular guy who is successfully running Minnesota with a mix of common sense and kindness. Minnesota is ranked No. 4 overall among all the states in U.S. News & World Report rankings, receiving top scores for business, health care, fiscal stability, education and infrastructure.
When Walz learned providing free meals to school kids improved their academic performance and their health — and even reduced the grocery bills at home — he started a program that provides free breakfast and lunch at schools.
Shaken by mass shootings in Las Vegas, Parkland and Sandy Hook, Walz endorsed sensible gun safety reforms. Last July, he tweeted, “I’m a veteran, a hunter and a gun owner. But I’m also a dad. And for many years, I was a teacher. It’s about keeping our kids safe. I had an A rating from the NRA. Now I get straight F’s. And I sleep just fine.”
Walz might jumble his words or misspeak at times, and even not remember what he said or why he said something 35 years ago. He was obviously nervous at the start of the debate, but he was real. As he said at a rally after the debate, “Not bad for a football coach.”
But if slick is what you want, JD Vance is your man. His neat hair and crisp suit gave him a senatorial look in keeping with his Ivy League training. He appeared thoughtful and sounded reasonable much of the time. It was impressive. It just wasn’t him.
On the debate stage, Vance expressed support for “pro-family policies, and making child care accessible and making fertility treatments more accessible.” But he skipped a Senate vote on a bill two weeks earlier that would protect in vitro fertilization nationally.
Vance declared that he “never supported a national ban” on abortion. But, when he was running for the Senate, he told a podcaster, “I certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally.”
Vance said, “The people that I’m most worried about in Springfield, Ohio, are the American citizens who have had their lives
destroyed by Kamala Harris’ open border.” But Vance is responsible for terrorizing Springfield — stoking fear and threats of violence by spreading what he knew to be a lie about immigrants eating their neighbors’ pets.
Outrageous claims rolled off Vance’s tongue like butter during the debate. He claimed Donald Trump “salvaged Obamacare” during his time in the White House, even though Trump tried to kill it seven times. With a straight face, Vance said there was a peaceful transfer of power in 2020, as if none of us saw the Trump-inspired violence at the Capitol.
As smooth as Vance was for nearly two hours, he crashed at the end when Walz asked him if he would agree that Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance refused to answer. If we had seen that at the beginning, it would have saved many of us a lot of time on Tuesday night.
Joseph Sabino Mistick can be reached at misticklaw@gmail.com.