On Tuesday night, vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz squared off in a 90-minute debate, voicing their opinions on everything from the economy to reproductive rights.
USC students who watched the debate said while they weren’t terribly swayed by either candidate, one thing stood out: the debate between Republican Sen. Vance of Ohio and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota was decidedly civil.
“Honestly, it was refreshing to see two candidates who can speak clearly and concisely. I think both brought up some good points,” said Michael Tashman, a junior and business administration major.
Alex Buettgen, a junior double-majoring in real estate and communications, said he found the debate informative.
“I thought both candidates made extremely compelling points that really have me kind of torn on which way I’m going to go,” he said. “I think that both candidates were extremely well-spoken last night.”
Tuesday’s debate did seem like a far cry between the fiery clash last month between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, during which the latter brought up conspiracy theories and false claims about immigrants eating pets.
In the vice presidential debate, both parties came away with positives, said Gordon Stables, director of USC’s Annenberg School of Journalism and former director of the Trojan Debate Squad.
“I do think that if you’re in each party, you felt good that there were moments where your candidate came out and really made your key point,” Stables said. “Like I think that Governor Walz really made the impression on both the election denial, about 2020, [which] was really important, as well as humanizing the abortion issue. And I think if you’re in the Vice President’s camp, you’re excited about that.”
On the other hand, “this is probably Senator Vance’s best moment since he’s been nominated as the vice president,” Stables said. “So if you’re in the Trump group, you like that you have a positive news cycle and some positive content about your vice presidential nominee.”
There was no clear winner, said Lucas Simon, a junior and a communications major
“It was a very, very close one,” Simon said. “We’ll see what happens in the future.”
The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 5.