Vance, Walz: Who Has the Edge Ahead of the Vice Presidential Debate?

So does Senator J.D. Vance or Governor Tim Walz have the edge heading into the debate next Tuesday? Joining us to discuss is James Fischbach, founder of Incubate Debate, and political strategist Libby Krieger. Libby Krieger, James Fischbach, thank you guys so much for joining. Our pleasure, my pleasure. Libby, I'll start with you. We're roughly 38 days now from election day, less than a week away from the vice presidential debate. Who do you think will be stronger in the debate, and ultimately who has more to gain? You know, Steve, I was watching these debates back, looking at J.D. Vance and Tim Walz and their previous debate history. I think both of them are going to perform well. What I think we're going to notice is each of them will have the same strategy of trying to make the other one look more extreme. Because the reality is this election may come down to thousands of voters in a couple key swing states. And if they can center themselves a little bit more to get those undecided voters, they will have a better chance. James, what type of technical things are you going to be watching here? Does either of the candidates, I guess in your preview vision, have sort of an edge? Both of them have that Midwestern folksy appeal. But I just point to an interview that Governor Walz had this week. He was asked point blank, is the border secure? And he could not give a yes or no answer. So I hope that the moderators and Senator Vance will push him on that, among other issues, like the one that Vice President Harris seems to be dodging every time she gets it, which is are folks better off today than they were four years ago? So I think the advantage goes to Senator Vance. We've seen him in congressional testimonies. We've seen him in past debates for his Senate race. He is an articulate, quick thinker. I think he has the edge here. Ultimately, it's who's going to be able to communicate these issues with actual substance to the voters. And I should say that the issues that voters care about, largely the voters are sick and tired of talking about January 6th. They care about immigration and the economy. And whichever candidate can speak directly and substantively to those issues will win this debate. It won't be close. Now, Libby, this is likely the last time we're going to see any of the people on the presidential ticket engage in a large scale debate. Do you think that this debate will impact the election in any form and have voters already made up their minds? You know, usually vice presidential debates don't swing much in elections. But because, like you said, this may be the last time that we see anything from from these tickets. I think there is potential, considering this race is very close. Look, almost every swing state is in the margin of error. So it's really going to come down to those couple thousand voters in states like Pennsylvania, maybe Michigan and Wisconsin. So I do think this debate could have an impact. And the Walls-Harris ticket, they really are desperate to make sure this race is about popularity rather than policy, because just like James said, immigration and the economy are the issues that voters really care about. And the Trump-Vance ticket is much better positioned to speak on those issues with substance. James, feel free to comment on what Libby had to say. And also, I want to ask you about the sort of the rules about this. Are we clear on the rules? Are they the same? How are you seeing the rules that are being set on this debate? Libby's absolutely right. President Trump and Senator Vance are in a much better position. They aren't the incumbents, unlike Kamala Harris, to speak about the failures of the economy, record inflation, record immigration. And so that favors them. To the rules of this debate, I just hope they won't be the unique debate style. I've been doing debate now for 15 years as a student, a coach, and now the leader of Incubate Debate. I've never seen the debate format we saw two weeks ago with Harris and Trump. It wasn't a one-on-one, it was a three-on-one. The moderators need to stay out of the debate. If they're going to fact-check, they should fact-check both candidates. I believe they shouldn't fact-check all together, because it's such a fraught, fraught issue. But let the candidates speak and refute others in any legitimate debate. The obligation of fact-checking, Steve, rests with the opponent, not with the moderators who are highly partisan. James, where do you think Walls has a potential chance to stand out? I think the only real advantage that the Walls-Harris ticket has is to stand out on the issue of abortion, to really double down on that issue. It's not a top issue for most Americans, but it is a top issue for a particularly vocal, energetic set of women. And so that is the issue I were advising him to focus on. Of course, James Fishback, Libby Krieger, thank you so much. Thanks, Steve.