Walz v Vance: The battle of the midwestern personalities

Tim Walz’s debate persona was reasonable everyman baffled by obvious iniquity, but was it more convincing than JD Vance’s?

Republican vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance talks with Democratic vice presidential candidate Governor Tim Walz after the vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News on Tuesday in New York. Photo: AP/Matt Rourke

The importance of the debate between vice presidential hopefuls Tim Walz and JD Vance centred largely on its uniqueness. With Donald Trump appearing to rule out another debate with Kamala Harris there was a good deal of interest in Walz v Vance as the last chance for both sides to outline their policy positions.

Or was it just a chance to compare two personalities?