The cardinal rule for participants in vice-presidential debates is “do no harm,” that is don’t become a distraction to your own team.
I can’t recall a presidential election where a running mate essentially tanked the ticket.
Even in the instances where the veep became an albatross, his or her flubs might not have helped matters but rather represented the scattering of soil upon a campaign coffin that had already been lowered into the grave.
If anything, poor showings did more damage to the future presidential aspirations of the running mates in future elections than the top of the losing ticket.
See the disastrous later White House bids of Dan Quayle, John Edwards, Ed Muskie, and Joe Lieberman while Sarah Palin couldn’t even win election to Congress.
And even in the case of the much-maligned Palin, it cannot be definitively said had only presidential candidate (blank) picked (blank) instead, they would’ve won.
Ohio US Senator J.D. Vance has not had a lot of good days since Donald Trump tapped him to join the ticket on the opening day of the Republican National Convention.
The Vance selection didn’t exactly energize the party seeking to broaden the GOP’s appeal and Ohio was considered a safe state for Trump.
Vance didn’t have a great start, delivering a listless speech at the GOP conclave in Milwaukee.
This is in no small part due to having been catapulted into the fray at the last second, then having to immediately contend with an avalanche of oppo research of unflattering past comments he made about Trump and the “cat ladies.”
And then there was the ultimate indignity of enduring an amazingly well-circulated Twitter/X hoax about him having relations with interior furniture.
How does one refute such a bizarre libel without making matters worse? It’s not like Vance could call a press conference and defiantly state “I did not have sex with that couch!” So the weird narrative the Democrats disingenuously applied (and the media ratified) to the GOP ticket had to dissolve on its own.
And then recently, Vance suffered yet another less than flattering moment at a Pennsylvania sandwich shop where he was barred by the manager from interacting with customers, for which the parent company had to publicly apologize.
To Vance’s credit, he kept his cool and made light of the demeaning situation caused by the alleged “nerves” of an employee.
Yet in what will likely be the last national debate before the November election, Vance finally had a really good day right when it counted most.
Vance came off as eloquent, polished, and prepared while also taking the fight to Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz without coming off as malicious or obnoxious.
In contrast, Walz seemed about as up for the task as President Joe Biden did in the June debate that effectively ended his political career.
Flustered and at times literally turning red in the face, Walz got tripped up answering even basic questions on his own life story.
In what maybe have been his best moment Vance ably deflected a January 6th question by challenging the Democrats on instigating the feeling of distrust in democracy starting with Hillary Clinton’s farcical claim that the Russians had somehow stolen the 2016 election from her and the Biden Administration’s active involvement in the censoring of dissenting opinions across society for which Walz had no response.
Vance was also extremely well-disciplined, staying on message with the Ohio Senator hitting on immigration hard and closing out on quality-of-life issues, from access to inexpensive energy to the affordability of food, that resonates with the average voter.
Vance put on a masterful display while Walz seemed completely out of his league.
But at least he has Dick Cheney’s endorsement.
No matter what comes of the 2024 election, the Republican Party will have a new nominee heading the ticket in 2028 either due to presidential term limits or Trump’s declaration that this will be his last election.
In addition to furthering the Republican ticket through his stellar performance in the vice-presidential debate Vance doubtlessly helped his own cause in the next national election.
It was a long overdue good night for J.D. Vance.