Who won the “Minnesota Nice” US vice presidential debate? Analysts say…

New York:

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and his Republican rival JD Vance debated each other on Wednesday as millions of Americans watched the country's first and most likely only vice presidential debate before the Nov. 5 vote.

Unlike the presidential debate, which featured personal attacks from the candidates, the vice presidential debate was calm, structured and surprisingly polite, as Mr. Vance and Mr. Walz debated mostly policy issues.

Instead of indulging in slander, both candidates stuck to criticizing the opposing presidential candidate. The debate came as a surprise to most, especially after months of an ugly and divisive campaign that saw personal attacks, derogatory language, racial slurs, inflammatory rhetoric and even assassination attempts.

The US vice presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz was calm, structured and surprisingly polite.

Mr. Vance and Mr. Walz have also attacked each other on the campaign trail in the past, but they struck a respectful tone during the vice presidential debate.

The most heated exchange of blows in the debate

The debate was cordial and focused mostly on policy issues, but had some tense moments near the end when the Republican candidate was asked whether he agreed that Donald Trump lost the 2020 US election.

During the debate, Mr. Vance said he would not have voted to certify the results of the previous presidential election and dodged the question when asked whether he would challenge this year's vote if Donald Trump lost the election.

Mr. Walz responded by blaming false claims of election fraud on Donald Trump, who incited a mob attack on the US Capitol in January 2021 that was an attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

Mr. Walz blamed Mr. Vance, saying, “He still says he (Tump) didn’t lose the election.” He then questioned his rival directly: “Did he (Trump) lose the 2020 election?” As the Republican As the candidate again dodged the question and accused Kamala Harris of censoring opposing views online, the debate was at its most intense.

“That’s a damn non-answer,” Mr. Walz exclaimed.

Tim Walz criticized JD Vance, saying, “He still says he (Tump) didn't lose the 2020 election.”

The two candidates, who hold very different views on every issue, debated a range of topics – from inflation to immigration, from taxes to the economy, from abortion to gender issues, the West Asian crisis and even climate change.

STRIKES AND COUNTER-STROKES

Both Mr. Walz and Mr. Vance picked on each other's presidential candidate and his weaknesses, dodged the verbal blows that came their way and responded in kind.

Mr. Walz described Donald Trump as an “unstable” leader who puts the interests of billionaires above those of citizens and attacked Donald Trump over his immigration policies. He criticized the former president for “pressuring Republicans in Congress” to abandon the bipartisan border security bill.

“Donald Trump had four years to do this. He promised you Americans how easy it would be.”

Mr. Vance criticized Democrats over the inflation and economic problem and repeatedly asked Kamala Harris why she had not done enough to address these important issues in the four years she was vice president in the Biden administration.

Vance and Walz also clashed on pressing global issues, particularly the crises in Europe and West Asia.

“If Kamala Harris has big plans to address the problems of the middle class, she should implement them now — not when she asks for a promotion, but in the job the American people gave her three and a half years ago.” said Mr. Vance.

The two also clashed on pressing global issues, particularly the crises in Europe and West Asia. Mr. Walz called Donald Trump “too fickle” and “compassionate” toward strongmen like Putin and Netanyahu and said Trump could not be trusted to handle the conflict-ridden region. Mr Vance rejected these claims, claiming that Mr Trump as president had made the world “safer” during his time in office.

Donald Trump, who followed the debate live, posted messages on his Truth Social website in his typical style – mostly personal attacks. He attacked the moderators of the debate on the US television network CBS. He also called Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz a man with a “low IQ” and even described him as “pathetic.”

During the debate, Republican candidate J.D. Vance, who had once been a strong pro-Trump candidate, blamed the media for their coverage of Donald Trump and tried to set the record straight by saying, “I was wrong about Donald Trump .”

He further explained: “I was wrong mainly because I believe that some of the media stories turned out to be dishonest falsifications of his story. But most importantly, Donald Trump delivered for the American people.”

THE “MINNESOTA NICE” DEBATE

The vice presidential debate was between Democratic candidate Tim Walz, 60, a former high school teacher and current governor of Minnesota with liberal views, and his Republican rival JD Vance, 40, a former venture capitalist, best-selling author and conservative firebrand U.S. senator from Ohio with some very conservative views on issues like abortion.

Although both candidates portrayed themselves as sons of the American Midwest, both held deeply opposing views on almost every major issue affecting the highly polarized United States of America.

Overall, both candidates appeared calm and polite, displaying a “Minnesota Nice” attitude throughout the debate.

While both candidates tried to outdo each other and occasionally take a swipe at their rival, both men appeared largely calm and polite, displaying a “Minnesota Nice” attitude throughout the debate and even occasionally thanking each other.

At the end of the debate, reports and polls suggested that neither candidate delivered a “knockout blow” to the other and neither could outdo the other, resulting in an even debate with no clear winner.

Political analysts believe that vice-presidential debates generally have no bearing on the outcome of a presidential election. However, even a slight shift in public opinion could be crucial as the race hangs on a knife's edge five weeks before Election Day.