Josh Marshall's wrap up take on the night:
"There was an exchange on abortion; there was an exchange on health care; and there was an exchange on democracy. Walz won all of those. He won them not just in some logical sense. But I think he won those in the eyes of most viewers.
That happened not because he bulldozed Vance with rhetoric or debating razzmatazz but because Vance’s argument just didn’t make sense because it was obvious he was hiding the ball....Perhaps most striking he refused to say who won the 2020 election. Again, it’s not so much that Walz destroyed Vance but Walz hung with him and just let him destroy himself because most people don’t agree with what he’s selling. I think we will hear more about Vance’s refusal to say who won that election.
So overall verdict: Vane was smoother, more focused, more organized. But for all his wobbliness Walz got in the stories and the images I think the Harris campaign wanted in there. By the second half of the debate there were repeated questions where Vance was ducking and bobbing and denying the obvious because he and his candidate are just on the wrong side of the public.
So overall I think basically a draw. In a way they both did well, even though they did everything differently. And final point: remember that this whole debate probably didn’t matter in the first place unless there was some massive gaffe. And there wasn’t."
TPM – Talking Points Memo
Debate Wrap Up
So I think this debate was basically a draw. Vance was smooth...
