Republican Ohio Senator JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz squared off in a vice presidential debate in New York on Tuesday.
The two candidates — both from Midwestern states — have similar roles in their respective campaigns: to appeal to working-class voters in the "Blue Wall" states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. They debated on issues relating to the war in the Middle East, the economy, reproductive rights and immigration, among other topics.
Matt Harris, an associate professor of political science at Park University, told KCUR that he thought the debate was a "throwback of sorts" to what debates used to look like in the U.S., calling it a "relatively calm and genteel affair."
"There were a lot of points of agreement. There was some sort of civil back and forth about each other's children and things like that," Harris said.
"I don't know that these vice presidential debates tend to matter too much. But, I think both candidates actually performed fairly well."
- Matt Harris, associate professor of political science at Park University
