The two vice presidential nominees—Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Democrat Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—will face each other in a debate on Oct. 1, one month out from the 2024 election.
Debate host CBS News announced on Aug. 15 that after proposing four dates for the matchup—Sept. 17, Sept. 24, Oct. 1, and Oct. 8—the Harris–Walz campaign quickly agreed to the third.
In response, Vance said he accepted the date, while also offering another debate on CNN on Sept. 18.
Traditionally, there is a single vice presidential debate per election cycle. On Aug. 15, Harris–Walz campaign communications director Michael Tyler said Walz would only participate in the CBS event.
Now that both campaigns have agreed to the showdown, here’s what you should know about the Vance–Walz vice presidential debate.
CBS News will broadcast the 90-minute debate at 9 p.m. ET with two commercial breaks, lasting four minutes each.
Network “Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan will moderate the debate from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City.
What Are the Rules?
CBS released the debate rules on Sept. 27.There will be no opening statements, and the moderators will begin by introducing the incumbent party candidate, Walz.
Vance’s podium will be on the left side of the television screen, while Walz’s will be on the right.
Both candidates will remain behind their podiums for the duration of the debate.
Like both presidential debates this year, there will be no studio audience.
Each candidate will have two minutes to answer questions, and the opposing candidate will have two minutes to respond. There will also be an additional minute for rebuttal.
The moderators are allowed, at their discretion, to give both candidates an additional minute to continue a topic. They will remain seated for the debate and are the only ones in the studio allowed to ask questions.
CBS will have lights in front of both Walz and Vance to indicate how much time remains for each response. Both candidates will also have a countdown clock.
Vance won the coin toss to determine the order of the two-minute closing statements and opted to go last.
CBS may opt to mute the microphones at any given point, but otherwise, they will both remain on for the debate.
Neither candidate will receive questions in advance of the showdown and campaign staffers are not allowed to interact with the candidates during the breaks.
Like the previous debates this year, no props or pre-written notes are permitted onstage.
Vance and Walz will each be given a pen, a pad of paper, and a bottle of water.
How Are the Candidates Preparing?
Vance has spent large portions of the past month preparing for the debate and recruited Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) as a stand-in for Walz during rehearsals.The senator has held prep sessions at his home in Cincinnati and online with team members and Trump campaign strategist Jason Miller.
Emmer has been studying Walz’s past debates and policy positions, aided by the time he spent with Walz in Minnesota’s congressional caucus before Walz was elected governor in 2018.
Walz has enlisted the help of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who was a 2020 Democrat presidential candidate and has often appeared on Fox News defending his party’s policy positions.
Buttigieg also stood in for then-Vice President Mike Pence during candidate Kamala Harris’ pre-debate preparations in 2020.
What to Watch For
Walz, 60, has a two-decade political record to draw on, including his governing experience in Minnesota and his years representing the state’s first congressional district, which had often voted for Republicans before Walz won it in 2006.He also emphasizes his Midwestern roots and plain-spoken rhetorical style.
Vance, 40, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022 and has made strong appeals to both rural and working-class America in recent campaign stops, often championing U.S. manufacturing and energy independence.
While criticizing the Harris–Walz campaign, he has described the candidates as radical liberals, particularly based on Harris’s California roots and Walz’s gubernatorial policies.
Thomas Hollihan, a professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, said that conversationally, Vance is likely to be bold and declarative.
“I think we’re going to see a much more populist style of presentation from Vance,” he told The Epoch Times.
John Murphy, a professor specializing in presidential rhetoric at the University of Illinois, said Walz has a more relaxed approach to debating.
“He enjoys stories, he talks with people, and he uses a regular-guy, dad-joke speaking style. He is preeminently a personable speaker, shaped by the norms of conversation,” Murphy told The Epoch Times.
Vance has also strongly criticized Walz for mischaracterizing his retirement rank with the Minnesota National Guard.
Vance served in the Marine Corps as a public affairs officer and was deployed to Iraq for six months.
Walz has defended his military record, which includes 24 years in the National Guard, but the Harris campaign recently said he misspoke in a 2018 video where he mentioned “weapons of war that I carried into war.” He has never served in combat.
Aaron Dusso, a political science professor from Indiana University-Indianapolis, said the best strategy for both candidates is to always “try and seem competent on the issues that are not your campaign’s strength and then move as quickly as possible to talking about the issues that are your strength.”
“So Walz will want to continue to emphasize reproductive freedom and social issues like health care and education and continue to hammer Project 2025,” Dusso told The Epoch Times.
Vance, on the other hand, should stick to policy and avoid ad-libbing, Dusso added.
“Be a policy wonk; stick to the border, economy, and crime … even though crime is down and the economy is doing pretty well, it’s still best for Republicans to focus on those issues because the average voter sees those issues as their strengths,” he said.
