The vice presidential debate pitting Republican JD Vance against Democrat Tim Walz promises to be a hard-hitting, no-holds-barred brawl as both candidates seek to bloody their opponent’s image.

Democrats have already unloaded a scorched-earth strategy against Vance, while Republicans hope to highlight Walz’s relative lack of national experience and far-left positions.

Expect to see no more Mr. Nice Guy on Tuesday night for Walz, who promises to be aggressive, indignant about his military service and “stolen valor” claims, and staunchly defending his governing of Minnesota during tough times.

Walz will call Vance a liar and accuse him of spreading false information, especially about immigrants.

While the Minnesota governor may appear to be soft, a grandpa and high school coach with a heart, expect him to be relentless in attacking his Republican counterpart.

Coming out of the gate, Walz struck a low blow against Vance, calling him and Republicans “weird” and challenging him to debate.

“JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley millionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community,” Walz said at his opening rally in Philadelphia. “C’mon, that’s not what middle America is.”

Then he delivered his closing zinger.

“And I gotta tell ya, I can’t wait to debate this guy. That is, if he’s willing to get off the couch and show up.”
Expect similar Walz one-liners during the debate. The only question is will his transformation from nurturing nice guy, kinder, gentler grandpa, to attack dog, be believable?

With Kamala Harris’s biggest weakness among male voters, it’s unclear whether Walz will appeal to that critical voting group.

Some Democrats have questioned Harris’s selection of Vance, saying that he doesn’t add much to the ticket in terms of expanding the electorate. Walz’s left-wing positions also don’t match Harris’s attempted conversion to a moderate.

Polling is not going well for Harris in some battleground states, and there’s still great fear among Democrats she could lose and belief in some circles Walz may have already fizzled.

For Vance, he needs to carpet bomb Walz from the very beginning of the debate, to knock him off stride.

There’s plenty of territory to attack Walz on, from his enacting draconian measures in Minnesota during Covid, to his letting Minneapolis burn during the George Floyd riots, to his weak position on immigration, to his dodging combat with the National Guard by resigning his position to run for Congress.

And while vice presidential debates rarely have an impact on the presidential race, even a small shift in support based on Walz and Vance’s performances could tilt the election. Vance will be under pressure to do better than Donald Trump did against Harris a few weeks ago.

In practice debates, Democrats have Pete Buttigieg playing Vance – an odd selection.

Unlike in the presidential debate, microphones won’t be muted but CBS reserves the right to cut off candidates if they interrupt.