Next week’s highly anticipated vice presidential debate between Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Democrat Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, while sure to generate buzz, is unlikely to make much difference in pushing undecided voters toward either presidential candidate, former President Trump or Vice President Harris, insiders agree.
Even so, experts who spoke to Fox News Digital did say there could be some indirect impact that can’t be completely discounted in a very close race.
“The VP debate is usually pretty [low-profile], they usually don’t get as much attention as the presidential debates,” Christopher Devine, author of “Do Running Mates Matter?: The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections,” told Fox News Digital in an interview.
Devine suggested that while the upcoming debate will probably result in some viral moments, it won’t have the same level of interest or influence on voters as the 2008 VP debate when Sarah Palin on Republican John McCain’s ticket stole the spotlight in her matchup with then-Sen. Joe Biden.
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“But the running mate does have what we call an indirect effect on vote choice in that it influences what people think of the presidential candidate, knowing that Donald Trump could have picked anybody and chose JD Vance or that Kamala Harris could have picked anyone and chose Tim Walz, and how they perform on the debate stage,” Devine added.
Tevi Troy, a presidential historian and a former George W. Bush Cabinet member, agreed but said their performances will reflect more of an impact on the public’s view of themselves.
“Many VP debates are completely forgettable,” Troy told Fox News Digital.
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“This year might be different, and it might be different because of the whole Harris-Walz hide-the-ball campaign where she didn’t run for the nomination, so she wasn’t scrutinized,” he continued. “Then she’s been very reluctant to have any unscripted interviews since then, and when she does, it’s usually with a very friendly reporter, and even in the debate against Trump, there’s a perception that the moderators were harder on him than they were on her.”
“There have been a number of instances where Walz has [been] asked about her views, and he kind of ducks what her views are because if they say what she’s been in the past, which is pretty liberal, [one of the] most liberal U.S. senators, then that’s not popular and not helpful to her political prospects,” Troy added. “But Vance also has a number of things from his past that have surfaced, that have led to bad stories, like the cat-lady thing, for example, and Walz has not been shy about willing to go after Vance and criticize.”
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After the Harris-Trump debate, a Fox News Poll this month found that voters thought Harris performed better than Trump.
With no further presidential debates in the works before November, the running mates will likely be making the final head-to-head case to voters for their respective campaigns.
Each candidate is sure to jab the other, with Vance likely zeroing in on Walz’s progressive policies in Minnesota and Walz likely to paint Vance as extreme, citing earlier statements on abortion prior to joining the Trump ticket.
The CBS vice presidential debate airs Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 9 p.m. ET and will be simulcast on Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network.
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