Tuesday night’s vice-presidential debate between Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz was a civil, relatively restrained conversation about issues facing American voters during the 2024 campaign.
In that, it was unlike the two presidential debates earlier this year.

There were moments when Vance bristled at what he though was unfair fact-checking from the two CBS moderators, and at one point microphones of both candidates were temporarily muted. But for the most part, the exchanges between the two candidates – and the candidates and the moderators – were civil.
There were even times when they agreed – and said so.
“There’s a lot of commonality here,” Walz said toward the end of the evening.

When the topic turned to affordable housing, co-moderator Nora O’Donnell noted that both candidates seemed to care strongly. And when Walz spoke of his 17-year-old witnessing a shooting at a community center, Vance seemed genuinely concerned.
“I’m sorry about that and I hope he’s doing OK,” Vance said. “Christ have mercy, it is awful.”

But the two arrived with different images and skills, which was evident from the start of the debate.
Vance typically has a smoother delivery and appears more experienced on television, while Walz has a more down-to-earth, everyman feel.

Early on, Vance’s answers Tuesday night flowed clearly and he seemed more confident, while Walz stumbled, seeming uncomfortable, stilted and unfamiliar with certain topics.

A tempered debate, with few political body blows, also probably served Vance best in the end, as it gave him space to defend running mate Donald Trump, and smooth over some of the former president’s rougher edges.

If Vance was picked because he puts ideological meat on the bones of Trump’s conservative populism, on Tuesday night Vance put a polite, humble face on them, as well.

“Something these guys do is they make a lot of claims about if Donald Trump becomes president, all of these terrible consequences are going to ensue,” he said. “But in reality, Donald Trump was president. Inflation was low. Take home pay was higher.”- BBC