5 takeaways from the vice presidential debate

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance kept personal attacks to a minimum during their first and only presidential debate Tuesday night, largely leaving topics like the ongoing drama over the size of campaign rallies at the top of the list.

Instead, the dueling candidates introduced themselves to voters on their biggest stage yet ahead of the Nov. 5 election. They took pains to highlight areas of agreement, even though Democratic and Republican voters convey vastly different versions of America.

The candidates discussed immigration and the economy during their time on stage, and Arizona came up twice in discussions about health care and abortion.

Candidates are more likely to criticize the candidates at the top of the list than each other. Still, former President Donald Trump’s name was mentioned nearly twice as often as Vice President Kamala Harris’, according to a rough transcript of the debate. The former president was mentioned about 120 times. Harris’ name appeared about 70 times, the transcript shows.

The debate was surprisingly polite

Throughout the evening, Vance, R-Ohio and Walz sought to note areas where they agreed. Their appeal to the center showed how both campaigns want to win over a small group of undecided, independent voters in November.

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“Governor. “Walz and I probably agree that we have to do better here. The question is how do we actually do it,” Vance said during an exchange about how to curb gun violence in schools. Vance advocated fortifying schools with stronger windows and doors, while Walz suggested using the country of Finland as a model with high gun ownership and low gun violence.

At another point, Walz tried to find common ground with Vance about the cost of child care.

“I don’t think Sen. Vance and I are that far apart,” Walz said.

Network fact checking has been kept to a minimum

CBS News anchors deliberately chose not to add fact-checks during the debate, opting instead to give the candidates a chance to fact-check each other.

However, the moderators chimed in when the conversation turned to immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio. Vance claimed on stage that schools, hospitals and the housing market there are “overwhelmed” by illegal immigrants.

“To be clear to our viewers, there are a large number of Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio who have legal status and temporary protected status,” said host Margaret Brennan.

Vance quickly reminded the audience that the moderators had agreed to keep fact-checking to a minimum.

“The rules said you wouldn’t fact check,” Vance said. “Since you’re fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on.”

Walz issued his own fact check during another immigration exchange, noting that he would do so rather than rely on the moderators.

“I think we agreed not to do any fact checking. I’ll check it out,” Walz said.

Swing state Arizona gets two nods in the debate

Vance dropped the name Arizona when the debate turned to the issue of abortion. Vance and Trump are pushing for state-level abortion laws rather than a federal law.

“We have a big country and it is diverse,” he said. “California has a different position on this than Georgia. Georgia has a different point of view than Arizona.”

Reproductive rights are top of mind in the Grand Canyon State this election season. A proposal to amend the Arizona Constitution to protect abortion access will appear on voters’ ballots in November. The issue is expected to swing in Democrats’ favor this year amid GOP-led abortion restrictions.

Later, Walz mentioned the late Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, as he reminded viewers of Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act early in Trump’s term.

Trump often vowed to repeal the law during the 2016 campaign.

“He would have repealed the ACA if John McCain hadn’t had the courage to save that bill,” Walz said.

McCain torpedoed the repeal effort by casting his tie-breaking vote with a dramatic thumbs down. He argued at the time that the reform would have reversed provisions of the ACA with which he disagreed, but would not have created a suitable alternative.

After Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency in 2015, McCain and Trump regularly clashed. The feud began when McCain took issue with Trump’s comments calling immigrants from Mexico “rapists” and “criminals.”

Things escalated when Trump mocked McCain’s captivity, saying McCain was “a war hero because he was captured” and that he “liked people who weren’t captured.” The North Vietnamese held McCain as a prisoner of war for more than five years.

Aided by the support of McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, Biden swept Arizona in the 2020 presidential election, in part because Trump had underperformed in traditionally Republican areas throughout Maricopa County.

Immigration remains a key issue in the 2024 election

The topic of immigration came up in the first 17 minutes of the debate, and Vance tried to steer the conversation back to immigration, even though other topics were on the table.

Vance said Harris “opened the floodgates” by repealing many of Trump’s policies, such as the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as “Remain in Mexico.” He said a Trump administration would continue to build a border wall and expand deportations, particularly against migrants with criminal records.

Walz, for his part, pointed to Harris’ experience prosecuting border crimes as California’s attorney general. He accused Trump of undermining a bipartisan border agreement earlier this year, something Harris repeated frequently during the campaign.

“That’s what happens when you don’t want to solve it but instead demonize it,” said Walz.

Vance defended his comments, claiming that unregulated migration causes massive problems in small communities.

“The people I’m most concerned about are American citizens,” Vance said.

Both candidates are trying to appeal to middle-class voters

The first reference to economic issues came in response to a question from moderators about Hurricane Helene and climate change. Walz said the country has become an energy superpower, with greater clean energy production as a cornerstone.

However, Vance criticized Chinese-made components in solar panels and called for more investment in natural gas.

Later, moderators asked the candidates how they could prevent their platforms from increasing the federal deficit.

Walz praised Harris’ policies, which he said are aimed at helping middle-class families. For example, he pointed to their proposal to approve new down payment assistance for first-time home buyers, an expanded child tax credit and a significant increase in tax credits to support small businesses.

Vance countered that the Biden-Harris administration has hurt middle-class households and others by fueling inflation, driving up food costs by 25% and housing costs by 60%.

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