Last night, during the Walz-Vance debate, I was texting with my brother Seth, a longtime political insider who worked in the last three Democratic administrations. My plan was to compile those texts (mine, not his) into a blog post here, with lots of snark included.
Unfortunately, the whole thing was such a yawning bore it’s not worth the effort. We were never going to get fireworks out of this pair, but I was surprised at how low-key both of them were. Vance left his fire-breathing evil demon persona behind to try to project more of a nice guy image. And Walz, seemingly very nervous early on, was clearly instructed by Kamala’s people not to be an attack dog (although he did take several shots at Trump).
Meanwhile, network executives at CBS and every other outlet that carried the debate were face-palming, knowing the viewership levels — which started out low — kept dropping with each passing minute. Things go very differently when Trump isn’t there to create chaos.
The result: nothing either candidate said will have any impact on polls or the outcome of the election.
Then again, Vice Presidential debates rarely move the needle, and no one remembers anything that was said. The only exception was in 1988, when Bush 41’s running mate, Dan Quayle, compared himself favorably to JFK. His opponent, Michael Dukakis’ running mate, Lloyd Bentsen, responded:
Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.
The audience, surprised anyone had said something worth hearing, shouted and applauded. I think I heard someone say, “Oh no he didn’t!” The next day, pundits described it as one of the most damaging remarks ever made during any political debate.
What effect did it have on the presidential election? Bush and Quayle won in an electoral college landslide while Dukakis and Bentsen were never heard from again.
If that incident didn’t change voters’ minds, why did anyone expect the Vance-Walz debate to be any different? In the end, the number of undecideds who watched last night’s debate and decided to support one team over the other is exactly ZERO.