NEW YORK, N.Y. – In just a few hours, Vice Presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz will face off in the first and only VP debate. The debate is coming at a pivotal time for issues both domestic and abroad. Our Washington, D.C. correspondents Rachel Knapp and Brendan Scanland are in New York City and will cover the debate.
We expect the obvious topics to be discussed in the debate: the economy, immigration, reproductive rights, safeguarding democracy and lowering prices. There’s a lot of things happening at home that could really shift the focus for the debate, like the devastation Hurricane Helene has left behind as well as the port strike which could have a huge impact on the supply chain and the economy. While voters will be on the lookout tonight for issues close to home, there are some major developments abroad that we expect the candidates to also focus on during debate.
Iran fired hundreds of missiles at Israel. These attacks mark a significant escalation to the conflict in the Middle East, which has largely been fought between Israel and Iran-backed proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas. U.S. military assets have been deployed to the region.
We knew this was going to be a big issue in this presidential election cycle, but the recent events will make it even more pressing for the VP candidates. It could really be a huge component to the debate.
Historically these VP debates don’t have a significant impact in the election outcome but this race is so close so everything matters. According to some new polling today by Quinnipiac University, it looks like former President Donald Trump now takes the lead in some key battleground states like Georgia and North Carolina. Vice President Kamala Harris has a slight lead in other battleground states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. It’s such a close race that every state counts for these candidates.
The debate is hosted by CBS News and will begin at 9pm eastern.
