By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Americans who watched the vice presidential debate between Democrat Tim Walz and Republican JD Vance were in for a big surprise: a cordial tone and an emphasis on ideas the two have in common.
Walz, who is Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, and Vance, who is former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, shared what might be called a “Midwestern nice” approach to Tuesday night’s more than 90-minute discourse.
They shook hands at the start and lingered afterward to introduce their wives. It was a welcome relief for some U.S. voters unhappy with the tenor of politics in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election.
“So refreshing to have a normal debate for once,” wrote Robert Rubin-Beman from Orlando, Florida, on X. “No incoherent rambling or trying to get a soundbite … I can’t wait for Trump to leave politics so we can go back to this.”
Walz, who is Minnesota’s governor, and Vance, a senator from Ohio, both hail from the U.S. heartland, a region that prides itself on a wholesome and neighborly attitude.
Each offers a geographic diversity to his presidential ticket with Harris hailing from the West Coast and Trump from the East Coast.
While the candidates disagreed sharply on issues such as abortion, climate change, the economy, immigration and taxes, they kept the tone polite and largely avoided personal attacks on each other, focusing instead on Harris and Trump.
“Now, Tim just mentioned a bunch of ideas,” Vance said during a discussion on housing availability in the U.S. “Now some of those ideas I actually think are halfway decent, and some of them I disagree with.”
Molly Bentley, a 42-year-old nurse who studied global geography under Walz, attended a Minnesota debate watch party with alumni of Mankato West High School, where Walz formerly taught.
Walz’s performance reminded her of sitting in his classroom 20-something years ago, she said. “He respectfully disagreed with JD Vance. He said, ‘Hey you’re right on this,’ and then he built on it.”
Bentley added that was exactly what he would have done as a teacher when two “16-year-old hotheads” were butting heads.
The tone was a far cry from Harris and Trump’s presidential debate in September, during which Harris, 59, put Trump on the defensive over his 2020 election loss and other issues. Trump, 78, responded with falsehood-filled retorts.
Vance, 40, and Walz, 60, were showing smart political instincts, some analysts said.
“Both sides were trying to appeal to the few undecided voters,” Jeremi Suri, professor of public affairs and history at the University of Texas at Austin, said of Tuesday’s debate. “Both sides were trying to look like they could act reasonably.”
This year’s presidential cycle has been dogged by political division and intense rhetoric, two assassination attempts against Trump and the former president’s sometimes racist and sexist attacks against Harris.
While Vance and Walz debated, Trump repeatedly referred to Walz on social media as “Tampon Tim,” a nickname mocking a law Walz signed as governor that requires schools to supply pads, tampons or other products for “all menstruating students” in restrooms, language meant to include trans students.
While Harris leads Trump by 2.6 percentage points in national polls, according to aggregator FiveThirtyEight, the election is expected to be won by razor-thin margins in battleground states that decide elections and include Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Even during the most fundamental disagreement between Walz and Vance, highlighted by a question on whether Vance would challenge this year’s election results, neither man raised his voice.
Walz said he and Vance were “miles apart” on the issue, and turned to Vance and said, “Did he (Trump) lose the 2020 election?”
Vance replied “Tim, I’m focused on the future.”
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in New York; Additional reporting by Erica Dischino in Saint Paul, Minnesota; Editing by Howard Goller)
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