Tim Walz Showed Why He Was a Mistake at VP Debate

Screenshot/CBS

Both major parties’ presidential candidates erred in their respective vice presidential picks.

But on Tuesday night, Ohio Senator and Republican nominee JD Vance was sharp, affable, and on message. Minnesota Governor and Democratic nominee Tim Walz, on the other hand, gave a disjointed performance heavy on platitudes in its best moments and drivel in its worst.

Walz was elevated by Vice President Kamala Harris after he completed a series of successful interviews with friendly media outlets in which he labeled the Trump-Vance ticket “weird,” to the delight of online progressives. But in weeks since he’s been selected, Walz has enjoyed an easygoing schedule heavy on rallies before adoring fans and light on interactions with the press that might have prepared him for his showdown with Vance.

The governor was quite obviously nervous from the start of the evening onward — as it turns out, for good reason. His meandering answers betrayed a lack of command of the issues and the Harris-Walz campaign’s superficial strategy.

Asked about housing policy, he explained, “Those of you listening tonight, housing is a big deal. I bought and owned one house in my life. My mom still lives in the house where I was. And when I think of a house, I’m thinking of Christmas services after midnight mass where you go with your family.”

Asked about his misstatements about being in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre, Walz boasted about growing up in “small, rural Nebraska,” his “service” riding his bike with his friends as a kid, and being a “young teacher” without ever answering the question.

When immigration came up, he looked at Vance like David might have at Goliath if he didn’t have the Lord on his side.

And in one particularly unfortunate moment, he declared that he’d “become friends with school shooters.”

So yes, Walz was nervous. That’s no crime, it was likely the most important night his political career will ever know. But his failure to engage on policy in detail and with the confidence Vance did reflects the weakness of the Harris-Walz campaign, which is quite obviously trying to ride to victory on good vibes and their opponents’ mistakes, not just butterflies in his stomach.

The Democrats’ blueprint is not altogether preposterous, given their competition, but it is a risky one that needs some semblance of balance.

You can’t answer every question about housing with answers like, “When I think of a house, I think of walls, doors, and windows. Your family lives there. You live there. Brush your teeth. Take a shower.”

You can’t answer every question about the economy by describing your own idyllic upbringing alongside middle-class neighbors.

And you can’t completely ignore the fact that it’s the status quo championed by Harris’s boss that voters are so up in arms about.

Walz is a pretty decent communicator in comfortable settings, but he’s not nearly as policy-literate — and as a result not nearly as quick on his feet — as his fellow veepstakes finalist, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D).

Harris reportedly settled on Walz because she felt more personally comfortable with him — and more sure that he wouldn’t outshine her.

But in a close race like this one, her campaign could use both the star power and substance that Walz just can’t give it.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.