Walz, Vance square off in civil debate
Vance refuses to say if Trump lost the 2020 election
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for October 2, 2024:
Growing calls in Congress for hurricane disaster aid.
Congress stands by Israel after Iranian missile attack.
Dueling briefs over evidence in Trump’s Jan. 6 case.
VEEP DEBATE. America got something different last night. It was a debate which centered more on actual policy details and differences instead of insults and a lack of civility. "Donald Trump needs to speak less and let JD Vance speak more," said GOP polling guru Frank Luntz, who praised both Vance and Tim Walz. "This VP Debate is a model of how political discourse should work."
REVIEW. In what was probably the final debate of the 2024 race for President, the two running mates dueled on a variety of issues - each scoring at various points. With Donald Trump cheering him on via the internet, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) seemed much more at ease on the debate stage than Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) - but neither one had a knockout punch or major gaffe.
PICK. The Vance of last night was the Vance that I thought we would see more of after Trump chose him as the GOP running mate back in July. But the first few weeks were sort of rough for the Ohio Senator. Maybe it just took a long time for Vance to find his footing on the campaign trail.
WHO WON? I don't think it will change the overall race for President, but I bet more undecided voters might think Vance was the winner on points. We'll see what the post-debate polls say. Both campaigns will declare victory no matter what, that's for sure.
JANUARY 6. The strongest moment for Walz - and maybe the weakest for Vance - came near the end of the debate, when Walz pressed Vance about January 6 and the 2020 election, which Trump has long said he won, repeatedly claiming without evidence that election fraud cost him a victory.
2020 ELECTION. Walz seemed ready for this issue to be brought up about Trump’s 2020 actions. "He lost the election. This is not a debate. It's not anything anywhere other than in Donald Trump's world," Walz said to Vance. "I would just ask that - did he lose the 2020 election?"
VANCE. Everyone in the Republican Party knows you can’t give the actual answer in public on this question because Trump cannot accept anyone breaking with him on the 2020 election - and it was painfully obvious that Vance didn't want to cross Trump on national TV.
NON ANSWER. “Did he lose the 2020 election?” Walz asked Vance. "Tim, I'm focused on the future," Vance said, as he immediately tried to change the subject to COVID restrictions. Vance had a pretty good debate up to that point - but that exchange about Jan. 6 was somewhat of a sour note for him.
FOUR YEARS AGO. Vance was definitely more on message than Trump had been about the economy - trying to make that 'are you better off than you were four years ago' kind of argument. It was a reminder that Trump had veered off course in his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris last month.
ECONOMY. "In reality, Donald Trump was president, inflation was low, take home pay was higher," Vance said, speaking directly to the camera. "I know a lot of you are struggling. I know a lot of you are worried about paying the bills."
TARIFFS. Vance stood by Trump's vow to dramatically raise tariffs on imported goods. "We're going to be taking in a lot of money by penalizing jobs overseas and penalizing countries who employ slave laborers and then ship their products back into our country and undercut the wages of American workers," Vance said. "It's the heart of the Donald Trump economic plan."
THE PAST. Vance waved off his dramatic personal change of heart about Trump. "I was wrong about Donald Trump," Vance said at one point. "I was wrong first of all because I believed some of the media stories that turned out to be dishonest, fabrications of his record."
ABORTION. Just like the Trump-Harris debate, Democrats enjoyed the advantage when the debate turned to the issue of abortion. After a somewhat slow start, Walz found his footing on this subject, denouncing GOP-led states which have dramatically restricted abortion, endangering the lives of women who need care for pregnancy complications. “We trust women. We trust doctors,” said Walz.
REPLY. Vance tried a new answer in this debate when pressed about abortion - openly admitting that the Republican Party is in trouble on the subject, as Vance noted the big ballot question win on abortion rights in his home state of Ohio.
TRUST. "We've got to do much better of a job at earning the American people's trust back on this issue where they frankly, just don't trust us," Vance said. “I want us as a Republican Party, to be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word,” endorsing fertility treatments.
GUNS. One issue that did not come up in the earlier presidential debates got some time last night, and that was gun violence. "Sometimes, it just is the guns," said Walz. "It's just the guns, and there are things that you can do about it," as he endorsed gun controls.
OOPS. That led to a jarring verbal miscue by Walz when he was talking about school shootings, as he mentioned the parents at Sandy Hook Elementary School. "I became friends with school shooters," Walz said, obviously mangling his words. I bet it gets a good bit of play on conservative radio today.
DISASTER AID. Tuesday brought growing calls from lawmakers in both parties for the Congress to return to Capitol Hill before Election Day - in order to act on extra disaster relief for Hurricane Helene, as well as a new package of military aid for Israel. "We need to help our people at home and stand with our allies abroad," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
LETTER. Graham was one of a dozen Senators who signed a letter to Senate leaders, asking for action on Helene aid. "Although the true level of devastation is still unfolding, it is clear that Congress must act," said the group led by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC). "This may even require Congress to come back in October."
BIDEN. At the White House, President Biden again made clear that FEMA needs more resources from Congress in order to deal with storm damage across the South. "They haven't given me the money we need," Biden told reporters. Just then, someone's cell phone rang. "Is that the Speaker calling me?" Biden cracked.
JOHNSON. In a speech on Wall Street, Speaker Johnson mentioned the damage from Helene, but said nothing about calling lawmakers back to approve extra money for FEMA. "I'm confident that we will rebuild,” Johnson said. “We will forge ahead.”
FEMA. Remember, the House and Senate left town last week until after the elections without adding any money to FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund. While the agency certainly has money that it can move around in the short term, the scope of the damage from Helene seems likely to require extra funds at some point.
VOLUNTEER STATE. Lawmakers readily acknowledged the scale of the damage during their own visits. "We're standing on I-26," Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said in a video. "This used to be a bridge over here - it is washed out," as she didn't mince words about what she was seeing. "The amount of devastation is absolutely catastrophic."
AID PACKAGE. Democrats echoed that call. "Congress must return to Washington to pass a disaster supplemental to support Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in Virginia and across the Southeast," said Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), who called for a 'robust federal response.' "Fully funding FEMA and disaster-related resources is critical for our country," added Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN).
COST. At the White House, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas wouldn't give reporters a specific damage estimate. "This is a multi-billion dollar undertaking," Mayorkas said in talking about relief efforts. As for rebuilding areas in North Carolina, the DHS chief said that would be 'extraordinarily costly.'
TODAY. Both President Biden and Vice President Harris will be traveling today to states hit by Helene. Biden will first go to Greeneville, South Carolina, and then onto Raleigh, North Carolina to meet with officials of both states. Harris meanwhile heads to Georgia.
ACTION. Despite all of this talk, I would be very surprised to see Congress come back before November - but you never know. It will depend on how much money FEMA has. I do think it will lead to a lame-duck supplemental spending bill, which could create some GOP drama after the elections.
ISRAEL. After watching Israel fight off dozens of Iranian missiles on Tuesday, there were also calls on Capitol Hill for the Congress to swiftly send more military aid to the Israelis. "It is time for America to act like the friend of Israel we claim to be," said Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell. "It is time to replenish Israel's supply of critical munitions."
GRAHAM. "I want Iran to see great resolve when it comes to Congress' willingness to assist Israel," said Sen. Graham. "I am reaching out to Republican and Democratic colleagues to put a package together as soon as possible."
CAMPAIGN. But the situation in the Mideast drew a different type of response from Donald Trump, as Republicans in Congress used the Iranian attacks on Israel to belittle President Biden and Vice President Harris. "We have a non-existent President in Joe Biden and a completely absent Vice President," Trump said. "Neither has any idea what is even going on."
GOP. "Every American should be deeply concerned that there is no one at the helm of our country right now," said Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), endorsing a tweet which said that Biden 'has no functional brain.'
SIT ROOM. Those statements from Trump and other Republicans came out just as the White House announced that Biden and Harris had been in the Situation Room, getting the latest military briefing on the attack. “The attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective,” Biden told reporters.
USS COLE. When the Pentagon gave some details yesterday about how U.S. military assets in the Mediterranean helped defend Israel from an Iranian missile attack, there was one very interesting note - the involvement of the U.S.S. Cole, a Navy destroyer.
NOTABLE. Why am I mentioning the Cole? You probably need to be a bit older to recognize the name. The ship was badly damaged on October 12, 2000, in a terrorist attack while anchored in Yemen. 17 American sailors died. No, Iran is not Al Qaeda - but it was notable to hear the U.S.S. Cole was involved.
COWBOY. Another nugget that I remember from the Cole bombing was that when the ship finally got underway - over two weeks later - and limped out of port, the Cole blasted from its speakers the Kid Rock song, Cowboy. It always seemed to me a proper note of American defiance.
TRUMP LEGAL. Lawyers for Donald Trump told a federal judge on Tuesday that more evidence in a brief filed by federal prosecutors should be redacted before any public release. The still-secret document from Special Counsel Jack Smith relates to the Jan. 6 case against Trump, as a judge tries to see how much can go forward to trial.
BRIEF. "President Trump’s Constitutional rights to impartial jurors and fair proceedings — to say nothing of witness privacy and even safety — all take a back seat to the (Special Counsel) Office’s political goals," Trump's lawyers wrote.
BLUF. What's all this about? The Special Counsel wants to reveal a bunch of evidence against Trump, in arguing that he does not have immunity from prosecution for his illegal efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. Obviously, Trump's legal team doesn't want that to come out before the November elections.
CODEL. Not every lawmaker in Congress is back home on the campaign trail. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), and Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-CA) were part of a delegation in Mexico City this week for the swearing in of the new President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum. Who is the guy in the hat? That's ex-Senator and current U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar. He’s standing next to First Lady Jill Biden.
CASUALTY LIST. We already have our first retirement - for the 2026 midterm elections. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), who has been fighting cancer, said in an interview that this November will be his last election. "It’s time for someone else," the 76-year-old Grijalva told KOLD-TV. "It’s time for someone younger.”
RAP SHEET. An Arkansas man has pleaded guilty to assaulting police on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol. A U.S. Army veteran, David Camden joined other rioters in pushing a bicycle rack barricade into a line of police officers outside the building. Later he sprayed a fire extinguisher at officers who were trying to keep rioters from advancing.
MUSE OF HISTORY. October 2, 1939. On this date, the Senate began debate on a resolution which allowed trade with the British and French on a cash-and-carry basis, as war spread across Europe. Congress had been swamped with petitions from back home arguing against any change in U.S. isolationist policies, with many voters demanding full neutrality as German forces attacked Poland. "I intend to vote against every proposal which I believe would tend toward involving us in that war," said Sen. Arthur Capper of Kansas.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on November 12.
The Senate comes back for votes on November 12.
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I found it interesting that the Trump-Vance campaign is so intent on demonizing the Haitian workers in Vance’s own state that Vance attempted to blatantly lie about their legal status on live TV. And then when the moderator told viewers the truth, Vance got his mic cut while complaining “The rules were you guys weren’t going to fact-check!” He clearly believed he could lie with impunity. Vance is like a Scooby Doo villain in a Brooks Brothers suit.
The moment JD Vance yelled at the debate moderators that we are not having any fact checking - that’s everything you need to know about where we are in this country.