VP debate between Vance and Walz expected to be boisterous but inconsequential | Opinion

In the first and final vice presidential debate between Ohio’s Sen. J.D. Vance and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, expect fireworks that don’t matter. The debate at 8 p.m. Central will be boisterous but inconsequential. Here are five things to look for.

• There will be a chest-thumping comparison of military credentials. Walz has the years of service and the rank — master seargent to Corporal — but Vance has time in an actual war zone as a Marine combat correspondent. Neither man saw “real fighting,” but a time or two Walz has admitted misspeaking in ways that embellished his record.

• Both men will accuse the other of being extreme. Vance will attack Walz’s record as governor, where he performed a flip-flop from being a congressional friend of the National Rifle Association to advocate of an assault weapons ban. Walz will hold Vance to account for the Heritage Foundation’s governing plan called Project 2025 and Donald Trump’s myriad bizarre policy-related ruminations.

• The VP duo will both deliver some whoppers. Walz will accuse Trump and Vance of planning to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits even though Trump says he would never touch the entitlements. Vance will stick by his discredited accusations of animal mistreatment by Haitian immigrants in small-town Ohio.

• The two ovary-free, estrogen-lite former military men will have a lot to say about abortion. Walz will remind viewers that Trump’s Supreme Court picks overturned Roe v. Wade, while Vance will embrace giving voters democratic choices at the state level.

• CBS has said that it will be up to Vance and Walz to fact-check each other during the debate because the moderators won’t be performing that thankless task. Expect a lot of hand wringing from commentators on other networks about any falsehoods that go by unimpeded, at least those by Trump’s running mate.

And once you’ve invested 90 minutes in watching this debate, remember that veeps, for all their record of being the combative partner on the partisan team, really don’t matter. Voters care about those at the top of the ticket far more than they do the men who face off Tuesday night.

David Mastio, a former editor and columnist for USA Today, is a regional editor for The Center Square and a regular Star Opinion correspondent. Follow him on X: @DavidMastio or email him at dmastio1@yahoo.com