Image: News_VPDebate_1: “JD Vance (51128248128) (cropped)” by Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Via Creative Commons
News_VPDebate_2: Governor Tim Walz speaking at a campaign rally for Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona by Gage Skidmore via flickr
On Tuesday, Oct. 1, CBS hosted the only vice presidential debate of this election cycle between JD Vance and Tim Walz. It is estimated that just over 43 million people watched this debate, a step down from the 67 million that the Trump-Harris debate brought in. While a lower viewer count is to be expected for a vice presidential debate, many West Chester University students still tuned in to watch. A survey was conducted by The Quad to gather students’ thoughts on and feelings about the debate.
When asked if they believed that this debate was better managed than the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, an overwhelming 86% believed that it was. In the previously conducted survey, many students voiced their grievances with one or more aspects of the debate. They either stated that the moderators were being biased in favor of Harris, or they believed that they did not do a good enough job of keeping the candidates quiet when it wasn’t their turn to speak. Some students who were in that aforementioned 86% stated, “they both sympathized with [one] another and reset the standard for what a debate SHOULD BE.” Another student, in the same vein, wrote: “It was nice hearing politicians be civil for a while.” Since there was a drastic lack of disorder at this debate in comparison to the prior one, many students are relieved that the debate progressed more smoothly.
Next, students were asked who they felt performed better at the debate. 82% of those who responded thought that Walz had a better showing than Vance, who got 18% in this poll. Those who believe that Walz performed better generally believed that it was because of faults committed by Vance. A student responded saying, “JD lied and misrepresented Trump’s extreme policies, attempting to appear moderate.” Another student responded in a seemingly joking way, stating, “I truly think JD Vance secretly hates Trump.” Yet another student wrote, “It was clear that Vance was more of a natural debater than Walz, and I believe that the moderators were skewed toward Walz, but Vance didn’t do himself any favors by blatantly lying about quotes he’s made in the past and avoiding questions. For some, Walz’s lack of experience on a debate stage could be a sign of incapability, but for others it could fit right into his persona of being a relatable Minnesota dad. I do think Vance performed better in terms of not cracking under pressure, but many of his answers were well delivered and neatly packaged lies.”
While Walz dominated in this survey, national opinion on this is split almost in half. According to a poll conducted by CNN, “51% of viewers said that Vance did the better job, with 49% picking Walz.” The Washington Post reported that 14 out of the 22 people (63%) that they surveyed believed Vance performed better than Walz. This is a significant difference from the WCU poll. One reason for this discrepancy could be the fact that different people have different criteria that they use when determining who performed better. While those who participated in the national survey generally stated that they thought Vance won the debate due to him being the better orator and debater, WCU students said that he lost because of his lying. One student even wrote that “Vance sounds like a Machiavellian,”or a person who lacks empathy.
While most students at West Chester University believed that this debate was better managed than the first one, opinions on who performed better vary, especially compared to national results.
Geoff Soland is a third-year History major with minors in Journalism and Museum Studies.