How Walz and Vance prepared for the vice presidential debate

Vice presidential nominees Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance square off Tuesday night in the final scheduled debate of the presidential campaign. Geoff Bennett discussed how the candidates prepared and what to watch for with Lisa Desjardins, Laura Barrón-López, Republican strategist Kevin Madden and Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross.
Amna Nawaz:
Vice presidential nominees Governor Tim Walz and Senator J.D. Vance square off later tonight in the final scheduled debate of the presidential campaign.
Geoff Bennett:
For more on how the candidates are preparing and what to watch for, let’s welcome in our panel.
That’s our own Lisa Desjardins and Laura Barron-Lopez, as well as Republican strategist Kevin Madden and Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross.
With a welcome to all of you, Lisa, J.D. Vance is coming into this with less experience as a candidate. How is the Trump campaign getting him ready for tonight’s debate?
Lisa Desjardins:
Well, there is official debate prep, unlike what Trump said he was doing.
J.D. Vance has been preparing at home in Cincinnati and over Zoom calls with someone personifying Walz. And that person is fellow Minnesota Tom Emmer, who also happens to be the number three House Republican.
Now, I’m told that this prep is something that they have done in earnest. But, at the same time, Politico reported today that, on a phone call with Teamsters, J.D. Vance said that he hasn’t had to do all that much, because he’s focused on the policy and that they feel good about their policy.
That is in contrast to a press call that the Trump campaign had yesterday in which they tried to downplay J.D. Vance’s ability and say that they thought Walz was going to be a tougher debate opponent. It’s clearly the expectation game. I am told that they are prepared for two different kinds of Walz personas, whether it’s the jocular dad or someone who goes on the attack.
Amna Nawaz:
Laura, tell us about how the Democratic vice presidential nominee is preparing here. How is Walz getting ready for tonight? And, also, is he trying to speak directly to any kind of target audience?
Laura Barron-Lopez:
Amna, yes, Governor Walz has had much — a very traditional debate prep, very similar, I’m told, almost identical to the kind of debate prep that Vice President Harris went through for her debate against Donald Trump.
And he had help from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who played J.D. Vance in their mock debates. And sources told me that Governor Walz is essentially trying to exit this debate the same way he entered it, which is with a higher favorability on average across polls than J.D. Vance has.
I’m also told that he is — Governor Walz is expected to try to make moments and hit J.D. Vance on abortion, on Project 2025, as well as on Trump’s past comments saying that he has — quote — “a concept of a plan” for getting rid of the Affordable Care Act.
But even though Walz is very much liked by progressives, Amna, he — the Harris campaign is hoping that his everyday dad persona, his relatability can speak to centrist Republicans, specifically Nikki Haley voters, which the campaign is aggressively courting.
And they got a boost today, Amna, from a specific group of former Nikki Haley voters who voted for Haley in the Republican primaries in their states. And this is a PAC that’s called Haley Voters For Harris. And they launched a seven-figure digital ad campaign today. They shared the details first with “News Hour.”
And I spoke to Craig Snyder, chair of the group, who said that the goal of these new ads is to create a permission structure for Republicans who may be considering voting for a Democrat for the first time in their life.
Geoff Bennett:
That’s interesting.
Craig Snyder, Chairman, Haley Voters For Harris:
Our argument is pretty simple. And that is that the vice president is a candidate of the center of American politics. She may be center-left, and these voters may be center-right. But the key word in that sentence is center. This is a pragmatic individual who is who is seeking in this campaign a coalition with people across the aisle.
Laura Barron-Lopez:
These ads are featuring lifelong regular Republicans who voted in the primary and who are intending to vote for Kamala Harris come the November election. And they are going to be featured across platforms like Meta, YouTube, as well as the Max app.
Geoff Bennett:
Ameshia, I was so eager to bring you into this conversation that I kind of jumped the gun.
(Laughter)
Geoff Bennett:
But I was speaking with a Harris campaign aide today who said that Tim Walz really needs to tell the story of Kamala Harris, that he really has to advocate for her because voters are looking at the top of the ticket, not at the vice presidential race.
What do you think he needs to do tonight?
Ameshia Cross, Democratic Strategist:
No, I think that’s absolutely true. He’s going to have to really clear that working class message.
One of the issues that we have seen in recent polling is that working-class voters are tiering to the right. That is a problem for the Democratic ticket, especially because we’re looking at decades of that level of movement. And this is probably the largest gap the Democrats have seen in a very long time.
So he’s going to have to talk about her story, her narrative, but also that economic agenda. The top thing on voters’ minds is the economy. And he’s going to have to sell her economic message. He’s going to have to sell the opportunity economy, what that means for everyday individuals.
And I think he’s also going to have to lean in on women’s reproductive rights. He’s debating against J.D. Vance, someone who has found in himself a way to deter women from both sides of the aisle and everywhere in the middle. And I think that he’s going to have to push on that really hard.
Amna Nawaz:
Kevin, we know the overarching mantra for any V.P. selection and campaigning and certainly for tonight, do no harm, right?
So, for J.D. Vance, who does struggle with favorability ratings, what is the potential there to either help or hurt the Republicans?
Kevin Madden, Republican Strategist:
Yes, I think, like, one of the problems that he’s had right now, one of the challenges is that he’s actually been the focal point of too many attacks.
Like you said, like, Donald Trump has had to explain statements that J.D. Vance has made in the past. And I think one of the stickier attacks has been the childless cat ladies thing. And the Democrats have used that very adroitly during this campaign.
I think his main charge here is very different from Tim Walz’s, in the sense that I think you’re right that, while Tim Walz will be out there trying to tell the story of Kamala Harris, I think J.D. Vance is going to be trying to tell the story of Kamala Harris, but he’s going to be trying to fill in the blanks with a bit more of a negative frame, tie her to some of the more extreme positions that she has on everything from the economy to immigration, to national security, and then also really try to focus on what Donald Trump would do for the future.
I think those will be the main changes. I think one of the other things too is tying Harris to the Biden administration. Like, you know Harris has gotten a little bit of a free pass here. As an incumbent, she’s sort of been the new face of change.
And so I think it’s going to be upon him to sort of really bring in and sort of kind of yoke the — Harris to the failures of the Biden administration on everything like the economy, immigration and such.
Geoff Bennett:
Ameshia, I mean, how would you gauge the Harris/Walz tickets ability to really cast themselves as a change ticket?
Ameshia Cross:
Well, I think that, for Kamala Harris, she’s doing it on her own. She’s out here. She’s a lot further to the left when it comes to things like legalizing marijuana. We just heard her talk about that on a podcast the other day.
We are watching her expand the conversation around abortion rights and women’s reproductive rights. That was a bit of a sticky point for President Biden, partially because of his Catholic religion. The other thing I think that she’s leaning in on is understanding that the American public is very frustrated with the cost of things right now, be it whether it’s housing, grocery prices, whatever that is.
And I think that, for her, it is leaning in on the successes of the Biden administration, but also acknowledging that people are feeling pain. One of the things that I think that was really hurtful for President Biden was Bidenomics and Bidenomics is great. However, people are saying, this is not working for me.
And there was a failure to acknowledge the fact that many people across this country from rural areas to urban areas could not afford their basic needs. So she’s leaning in on that, talking about plans and policies to help reduce the cost, but also speaking to the grievances that they feel.
Amna Nawaz:
Kevin, meanwhile, we know there’s not going to be immediate fact-checking from the moderators tonight as part of the format. There will be online separate fact-checking.
We will have our own fact-checking here in our coverage as well. But who does that present the biggest challenge to tonight?
Kevin Madden:
Well, I think both of them are going to be very contentious in trying to fact-check each other. So I don’t know if there’s necessarily an advantage there.
One of the interesting things that I think we will see very early in the dynamics of this debate is that these are two candidates that really don’t like each other. And they have been sort of sniping at each other from afar, calling each other into question on what they — on their past statements, on their past policies.
And this is going to be the first chance for them to really get up close and do it in person. So I expect that there would be a pretty contentious tone during the — during this debate.
Geoff Bennett:
Lisa, what are you watching for tonight?
Lisa Desjardins:
Well, I think I’m watching for that.
Geoff Bennett:
Yes.
Lisa Desjardins:
It’s clearly in the interest of both of these men to rise above it and to talk about policy and to be focused on that. That’s what persuadable voters say they want to hear.
But it’s going to be hard, I think, for anyone who’s a number two to Donald Trump to not take swings. And on the campaign call I was on yesterday, it was a dozen different things that Jason Miller, who’s one of those involved in debate prep, said they want to go after Walz on.
So how does Vance do that? Does he try and change his persona, how he’s perceived and be above it? Or does he do what the campaign is saying they want him to do, which is throw punches?
Geoff Bennett:
Laura, we have got 30 seconds left. Same question to you. What are you watching for tonight?
Laura Barron-Lopez:
Well, one thing I found interesting, Geoff, is that sources close to the campaign, Harris campaign, told me that they believe that J.D. Vance is going to be able to land some punches on Tim Walz, so a bit of expectation setting also from the Harris campaign, that they think J.D. Walz is a far more experienced debater — sorry — J.D. Vance is a far more experienced debater than Tim Walz.
Geoff Bennett:
All right, Kevin Madden, Ameshia Cross, Laura Barron-Lopez, Lisa Desjardins, our thanks to all of you.
And our panel will be joining us again later tonight for a live simulcast of the CBS News vice presidential debate. You can watch the debate followed by live analysis right here on PBS and on our Web site starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.