America is typically known as the ‘Land of Opportunities’ but thanks to the recent embarrassment of the 2024 presidential debate, we are now known as the country with temperamental, tantrum throwing leaders. What is even more embarrassing is the fact that the vice presidential debate with Ohio’s Senator JD Vance and Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz was respectable and civil compared to the Harris-Trump debate.
Similarly to the presidential debate, the vice presidential debate started off well. Unlike the previous debate, however, it actually remained civil. The two, Vance and Walz, managed to offer substantive answers and were able to present themselves with dignity. For the first topic, the Middle East, the two never cut each other off and refrained from insulting or speaking in an offensive tone. A shame the same can’t be said for the presidential candidates.
The first time someone cut the other off was during the topic on the border crisis and immigration. Governor Walz reached the end of his speech, even complimenting Vance by saying, “I believe Senator Vance wants to solve this” and then continued with “But by standing with Donald Trump and not working together to find a solution, it becomes a talking point. And when it becomes a talking point like this, we dehumanize and villainize other human beings.” Vance then attempted to say something.“Tim..” At this point, Walz was reminded of his time and Vance was then given the opportunity to speak. “Governor. Governor, your time is up. Senator, I’ll give you 1 minute, but let me just ask you the question first.”
While Walz did exhibit a slight lack of restraint when it came to speaking, it was only a few seconds over his time and he stopped himself soon after. did feel some sort of second hand embarrassment but that was only due to the moderator’s tone, her tone made it seem as if she was calming down two toddlers. Again, not as embarrassing as the Harris-Trump debate.
Similarly, Vance also tried to continue even after his time was up. This was on the Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio and the recent issues there. “Thank you, Governor. And just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status. Temporary protected status. Norah.” Once outed, Vance tried to explain but was quickly stopped. “Well, Margaret, Margaret, I think it’s important because…”
“Thank you, senator. We have so much to get to,” Norah O’Donnell said, swiftly cutting him off. Apparently that wasn’t enough for him, and to desperately save face he said “Margaret. The rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact check, and since you’re fact checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on…” O’Donnell cut him off once more before he finally got the hint. Lying on live television to millions of Americans, doing anything to gain their votes, even if it meant harming others, was low; especially when it tarnished the reputation of an innocent group of people (the Haitian immigrants) and has caused mass controversy around the nation. So while civility was kept, he did the same thing his running mate did: lie and then try (and fail) to save face. With that said, my favorite parts were whenever the moderators had to -repeatedly- cut them off. They were the real heroes in this, somehow maintaining patience even when the candidates acted like toddlers at times.
In a rare show of humanity, Vance expressed genuine empathy for Walz and his son, who had witnessed a shooting, with Vance saying that it was “just awful” and that he was very sorry about what Walz’s son witnessed. The two showed that they were capable of feeling human emotion (shocker) and weren’t just politicians in it for their own gain. This part kind of resonated with me. Even though they were on opposing sides, they still were able to acknowledge that the other was human and deserved basic respect, especially with a topic as sensitive as this one.
Though there were a few instances where a candidate was cut off or reminded of their time limit, the debate itself went smoothly and I felt as if the two actually answered the questions properly, not just using them as a way to insult the other or make sly remarks. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the outcome of this debate. The two actually debated and managed to maintain their public image, somewhat saving America’s image in the process, especially after the first and only presidential debate.
Was this the epitome of a well done, courteous debate? Not exactly. That may not seem like much, but the American people need to know that they at least have qualified vice presidential candidates. They need to know that the future of America isn’t (entirely) doomed and that our leaders won’t run our country to the ground based on how they present themselves. I felt as if I could genuinely see their capabilities as possible leaders. This was not as civil as one would imagine a debate between two possible leaders to go, but still significantly better than Harris and Trump.
