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Vance vs. Walz: Think VP debates don't matter? Just look at these 6 examples

4 0
30.09.2024

Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, addressed a crowd in Traverse City, Michigan on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.

Yes, the conventional wisdom is that vice presidential candidates rarely matter. But vice presidential debates have both produced memorable gaffes and moments – and sometimes actually changed the direction of the campaign. I’d argue that three of the six presidential elections in recent elections were transformed by the V.P. debate, and even if you go back to the ancient history of the last 50 years, they turned out to be important, even if not decisive. Let’s take a look at six memorable examples.

1976: Mondale vs. Dole on ‘Democrat Wars’: The first vice presidential debate of the modern era took place in 1976. Coming out of the divided Republican convention, President Gerald Ford had picked Kansas Senator Bob Dole, as a way of uniting the Conservative and Moderate wings of the GOP, following their divided convention. Dole faced Jimmy Carter’s vice presidential candidate, Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota.

In that debate, Mondale responded to a line that Dole had been using in all his speeches – that the Democrats were the party in power when all the wars of the century had started – notably both World Wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. In an obviously scripted moment, Mondale responded, "Senator Dole has richly earned his reputation as a hatchet man tonight, by implying, and stating, that World War II and the Korean War were Democratic wars. Does he really mean to suggest to the American people that there was a partisan difference over our involvement in the war to fight Nazi Germany?"

EXPERTS PREVIEW VANCE-WALZ DEBATE, SAY USUALLY 'FORGETTABLE' VP BOUT 'MIGHT BE DIFFERENT' THIS TIME

Unfair, absolutely – within the bounds of typical pollical sparring, of course. In a close election decided by less than 20,000 votes, it might have been decisive – and it certainly damaged Dole, preventing him from mounting an effective campaign for the nomination in 1980, even though he was able to recover and become the GOP standard-bearer in 1996.

1984: Bush vs. Ferraro—Bush Recovers for Reagan: President Ronald Reagan – then the oldest president in history – clearly performed poorly against former Vice President Walter Mondale during their first debate. On several occasions he seemed to have a "Senior Moment" – in one case taking almost 17 seconds to find a word. People started talking about whether he was exhibiting "cognitive decline." Most folks knew Reagan was favored for reelection – especially after Mondale "promised" to raise taxes. In a clear move of desperation Mondale had named a little-known New York Congresswoman,........

© Fox News


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