WOW! There sure must be a lot of very capable high school teachers and football coaches out there in America! Democrat Tim Walz, who used to be one of them, proved it tonight in the only vice presidential debate, hosted by CBS, that will be conducted before the presidential election November 5th. He debated Republican J. D. Vance.
J. D. Vance is Donald Trump’s vice presidential running-mate, and Tim Walz is Kamala Harris’s running-mate. Sixty-year old Walz—after many years as a high school teacher of social studies and a football coach—served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and then two terms as governor of Minnesota. Forty-year old J. D. Vance has been in a single-term U.S. Senator from Ohio since 2022.
This debate lasted about one hour, 45 minutes. It started slow and then zoomed. It was a cordial debate, far unlike any televised presidential debate Donald Trump has ever done. In his debates, he is always speaking ill of his opponent, often calling them names like a child, such as calling Hilary Clinton, “that nasty woman.” Trump lies like crazy. Half of his debates, that is, his half, could be called The Liars Club.
Walz obviously was nervous at first against Vance, who is considered to be a pretty good debater. But once Walz got his feet planted and comfortable, I thought he knocked it out of the park. He was like a golfer in a sand trap, swishing his feet around to get a solid stance so he or she won’t slip in the swing. Once Walz got comfortable, he nailed the shot.
On illegal immigration at our southern border, which is a big issue with voters, Walz mentioned the bipartisan bill Congress would have passed except Donald Trump told Republican lawmakers not to sign it as a political weapon, which they did. Walz said of this bill, “I don’t talk about my [Catholic] faith a lot, but Matthew 25:40 talks about, ‘To the least amongst us, you do unto me.’ Americans, they simply want order to it [concerning immigration]. This bill does it. It’s funded. It’s supported by the people who do it, and it lets us keep our dignity about how we treat other people.”
Walz often looked wide-eyed and straight ahead at the camera, looking and speaking to American voters who were watching. He seemed really genuine to me. Vance often dodged host questions. He constantly blamed Vice President Kamala Harris for problems in the country even though the vice president does not run the country, but only answers to the president. Vance blamed Harris for inflation and high prices, whereas civic government teaches that the U.S. president generally has little or no control over such things, the independent Federal Reserve somewhat does.
The highlight of the debate came late in the evening. The host asked Vance if he will accept the results of this upcoming election if all 50 U.S. governors agree on who wins this election. She added that all 62 court cases concerning the 2020 presidential election had ruled that there had been no substantial election fraud whatsoever and that Joe Biden therefore had fairly won the election.
Obviously, this important question was asked because, ever since that presidential election and to this day, Donald Trump has constantly and publicly declared that the election was “rigged,” that he really won that election, and therefore it was “stolen” from him by the Democrats. Every time Trump says this lie, he undermines the basis of the USA as a democratic nation, which is our free and fair election system. In fact, it has always been the envy of the free world. Vance did not answer the question.
Walz then gave a great presentation of our democratic, election system. He then turned to Vance and asked him if Donald Trump lost the 2020 election or not. Vance began with his answer, “I’m concentrating on the future.” So, he glaringly did not answer the question. MSNBC television commentator Lawrence O’Donnell afterwards said of this important moment in the debate, “It was the first time a vice-presidential running-mate did not know who won the last presidential election.” HA!
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