30 Comments
Oct 2Liked by Steven Beschloss

Bullseye, Steven. Vance is a slick chameleon contrivance whose facile lies didn’t change the mind of a single voter.

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Oct 2Liked by Steven Beschloss

I agree with you and Steven. Tim Walz isn’t just nice, his honesty put him way in front of Vance.

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founding
Oct 2Liked by Steven Beschloss

Vance lied like an Ivy League lawyer. Walz looked like a man who never heard an Ivy League lawyer tell such obvious lies before.

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Haha! I wonder if they have a course in Ivyleague law schools called "Smoke and Mirrors." But of they do..... they just call it by some other innocuous name.

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"Rhetoric 101"

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I had to laugh…the Kid that spoke in the follow-up portion blew the tRump/Vance claim of how she, (Harris), had three and a half years to fix the migrant problem…and did nothing…completely out of the water when he accurately stated, “As the VP…she is powerless to act on her own and could do nothing without the President’s lead!” So apparently the title bestowed upon Harris as the Border Czar…was in fact a misnomer…She was actually the Border Problem’s “Fact Finder” for the President.

Another sobering moment came when Vance became critical of the Moderator’s “fact checking” of the his answer, apparently dishonest, to a question. An action that speaks volumes to reinforcing their Campaign’s lack of integrity and truthfulness…a fact which has been on display to date in any event.

Furthermore, it was ironic that a question to Walz about whether or not he was in China on a particular date became so important, to which he responded that “he had apparently misspoken.” When in glaring contrast…in the last 24 hours…tRump’s broadcast of a multitude of lies regarding the Biden’s administration’s failure to respond (an absolute, boldface lie!) to the devastation of the recent storm went without any mention at all.Why is that I ask??? Last but not least…was Vance’s responses or the lack thereof, to the Jan 6th resurrection attempt and ongoing Election Denial debacle. Will they ever stop the BS!!

The real glaring result of the debate was that…we are in for a really rough time of it irrespective of who wins. Obviously if it’s Harris/Walz it will be much better…but after the last four years…I can only imagine what’s going to happen!

After all is said and done. I did have an amusing after thought, “what if the Pinocchio Effect” struck Vance?” Hell…we would have seen the end of his Nose up here in the Boston area!

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What I particularly disliked was the arrogant condescending little smile Vance wore throughout the debate. Made me want to smack him.

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Smirk is more like it! Great notice!

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Oct 2Liked by Steven Beschloss

It was disturbing to me that Vance spoke about tfg as if he were a normal candidate, all while tfg had just made one of the most unhinged and bonkers speeches of the campaign. In his speech, he said that kids went to school and returned home with a “brutal” surgery. That is about as insane as he has ever been.

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He also said that soldiers hurt by the Iran bombing of our troops came away with headaches. Correction! Traumatic brain injuries.

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Oct 2Liked by Steven Beschloss

Beautiful summary... Thank you... I was scared at the beginning because JD came off so slick.. but that "slick" was just slippery like an eel... just a posure like tfg without the screech

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Same stench, though.

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Yes...Vance came across slick and polished, exuding grace and congeniality, but with very little substance in his responses and avoidance to answering questions. I thought he was condescending, using Gov. Walz's first name while the moderators and Walz referred to Vance as "Senator". It may sound picky on my part, but those little subliminally disrespectful things are insidious when used at that level. All the conviviality aside, it simply didn't ring true, as Vance's attempts to stir the pot by blaming Harris for every political ill in the country. His "focusing on the future" fell flat with every reference to her poor work history on every campaign point, even things that go back quite a few presidential terms in the past.

We can relax and feel sure that VP Harris has chosen the right person as her running mate, a truly humble, honest and real man, focused on the things we all need. I know I am looking forward to that future!

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You caught the same trick of using people’s first names which supposedly makes them more malleable. Didn’t work with Tim or Margaret and I believe he didn’t use Norah’s first name either.

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Right from the beginning I could see that Vance was slick and smooth, and Walz was nervous and spoke too quickly. He did settle down after a bit. But on substance, Walz was far superior. Again, on style, did anyone else find it annoying that Vance had to answer every question by including the name of the moderator? My big peeve with the debate was the moderators ( or the CBS powers that be) trying to normalize the Trump/Vance ticket. They never asked a question about Project 2025 plans to remake the government and eliminate departments, never asked about Vance’s close association with Christian nationalism (which he himself has acknowledged), asked an irrelevant question about Walz’s 35 year old trip to China and saved the election question till the end.

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Someone mentioned 2025 but Vance pretended he didn’t hear it and deftly moved on to something irrelevant and left it in the dust. How Trumpian!

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Or their ties to Russia and other dictators

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Tim Walz did a great job! I do hope the audience remained tuned in for the discussion about the 2020 election because Walz clearly owned that moment, while calling out Vance and the Republicans on their hypocrisy and lies.

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Oct 2Liked by Steven Beschloss

YESSSS, Sir! You have hit a bases loaded homerun with this one. Agree w/Bob - the last young person who spoke at the end said it all; there's a good job waiting for him.

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I think Walz did his job. He held his ground and responded to lies with facts and policy. JD did his job. He didn’t act weird and he lied non-stop. Those who believe JD’s lies will not be persuaded. But voters who have knowledge of the issues and/or care about our democracy and have forgotten why Pence wasn’t there were reminded. (When he asked JD to say trump lost, JD pivoted to saying he’s focused on the “future”… and then went to a lie from the past about censorship which was litigated & the courts have struck down.)

I’m not a fan of the “debate” formats. The “memorable” debates are remembered a quip, a put down, a sound bite - these days video clips — not substance. For instance -

Benson’s “I knew Jack Kennedy ... you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

Reagan’s "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."

Walz provided those moments for the ticket. The campaign already has a video going out of the Jan 6 exchange.

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Oct 2·edited Oct 2Liked by Steven Beschloss

Thank you for making so VERY clear the difference between the two VP candidates. I fear that many viewers saw the slick, handsome blue-eyed, young(ish) man speak so smoothly -- and overlooked the WORDS of Tim Walz. If a viewer didn't actually listen, then vance won the debate. However, if a viewer heard the words of Tim Walz, there is no question who won. I wish that your outstanding article could be published far and wide. (An editorial, perhaps, in one of the Corporate Media papers? NYT? WaPo?)

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As I have written elsewhere, I didn’t watch the debate (I just could not countenance the slickness and smiling lies of Vance) …but I have to wonder whether the humanity of Walz - which always shines through - is about as effective today as Carter’s was back in the late Seventies?

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Vance humanized himself, making himself to appear more personable and likeable. That alone constituted a victory for Vance. Vance, with Walz cooperation, appeared to move to the center, nothing how often they were in agreement. Walz replied in kind; every time Walz and Vance talked of an agreement, Project 2025 moved further into the background cat ladies and cats for dinner became 'one off's. Victory for Vance. Vance may be a chameleon, but was successful last time at changing his colors and stripes.

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So slick, albeit robotic Vance is “focused on the future”? JD, the past is prologue, history does seem to repeat itself, a leopard cannot change its spots, and you, sir, have proven yourself a prevaricator, a slimy lapdog to a confused and incompetent manipulator of truth and people’s lives. I see the future, too, and it’s without Donald Trump in our lives and certainly not with you as President.

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There couldn’t have been a greater disparity between the two. Artifice vs authenticity. Arrogance vs humility. Evasion vs frankness. Those who claim to still be undecided simply do not understand that character is the bedrock of trustworthiness.

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