If nothing else, I had a good time while I watched the VP debate. Groton Democrats gathered to watch at the NY Deli, which is right next door to our headquarters. Once again they remained open so we could watch the debate together. The food is good, by the way, so if you’re in the neighborhood…
Going in, my expectations were that the press would call it for Vance or call it a draw, regardless of actual performance. Vance isn’t in the grip of senility like Trump, so it was a sure thing that he’d lie far more effectively, and of course the fact that there was to be no fact checking (I don’t see why the Harris people agreed to that) would protect him from having his lies exposed in real time, though one of the moderators did screw up and fact checked him, which provoked his whiny response that there wasn’t supposed to be any fact checking, which translates into “Hey, the rules are that I can lie as much as I want”.
Getting back to the press, since they had no choice but to call the first debate for Harris, they simply couldn’t call this one for the Democrats too, because that would be unfair, don’t you see?
My impression is that they’ve pretty much settled on calling it a draw, while soft pedaling Vance’s lies, which of course were considerable. In a way that’s a victory for Walz, because he did well enough to give them no grounds to justify a Vance win, which is what they would have preferred.
Another guess: it will be the late night comedians who will do the best job at deconstructing the lies. The good thing about that is that they reach a broader audience than the multiple social media outlets that will be doing the same thing. There will be a lot of takedowns on social media, but they have audiences that tend to search them out because they agree with their basic take on things. A bit like preaching to the choir. The comedians have a somewhat broader audience.
Anyway, in the long run I don’t think the VP debate will make much difference either way.