Alan Schroeder

Author, Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail. Professor Emeritus, Northeastern Univ School of Journalism, Boston. Resident of ABQ.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

The wrangling over another debate continues to benefit Harris. At this point her campaign might as well accept the debate invitation from Fox News, knowing Trump will dodge that one too. https://t.co/Fl4NqK3pmR

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

Inexplicable indeed. By not using the catch-phrases at his disposal, Walz left money on the table.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

I wish this debate had begun with the discussion about the future of American democracy, rather than finished with it. That's the central issue of this election, not merely a note to end on. And it generated the most revealing exchange of an otherwise lackluster debate.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

Four years from now, perhaps.

[Adam Nagourney @adamnagourney]

A debate between Vance and Harris would be pretty interesting. Realize that is pretty unlikely to happen, but not imposssible

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

There was talk in 1960 of adding a VP debate to the schedule, but it never got off the ground. Instead, JFK debated Richard Nixon four times--the most presidential debates of any election cycle.

[Ken Rudin @kenrudin]

Ordinarily, VP debates don’t affect the outcome in November, but this one — Mondale and Dole in 1976 — was not only the first but may have been the most consequential. Tonight, Walz vs. Vance, starting 9 pm, moderated by CBS News.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

How will ratings for tonight's Walz-Vance debate compare with previous VP debates? Biden-Palin (2008), with more than 70 million viewers, is history's most-watched veep debate. Harris-Pence (2020), with nearly 60 million, comes in second.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

7/ By contrast Walz has indicated he does not aspire to a future presidential run. This relieves much of the burden on him, giving him more room for maneuver than his opponent. Walz will be debating for the moment, not for his political future.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

6/ Second, Vance needs a strong debate to secure his political viability going forward. At age 40, Vance could be a player for decades to come—but a bad debate could destroy his career the way it did Dan Quayle’s.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

5/ Vance faces more pressure than Walz in the debate for a couple of reasons. First, he has to make viewers forget Trump’s humiliating loss to Harris in the previous encounter.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

4/ VP debaters usually ignore each other and concentrate instead on the top-of-the-ticket nominees. It will be interesting to see how much Vance focuses on Walz as opposed to Harris, and how much Walz focuses on Trump as opposed to Walz.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

3/ Walz is well positioned to argue the case that Trump is too old and Vance is too green. Vance has no equivalent line of attack, and in fact will want to draw attention away from Trump’s age.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

2/ With Trump the oldest major-party nominee in history & Biden’s June debate debacle still looming in voters’ minds, the age issue is fertile ground for Walz. Plus, it’s a twofer: an opportunity to attack both halves of the ticket in one fell swoop.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

1/ Two previous VP debates could provide a road map for Tim Walz Tuesday night: Bentsen-Quayle in 1988 & Biden-Ryan in 2012. In both, the more seasoned candidate made his younger opponent look too callow & inexperienced to assume the presidency.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

7/ By contrast Walz has indicated he does not aspire to a future presidential run. This relieves some of the burden on him, giving him more room for maneuver than his opponent. Walz will be debating for the moment, not for his political future.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

6/ Second, Vance needs a good debate to secure his political viability going forward. At age 40, Vance could be a player for decades to come—but a bad debate could destroy his career the way it did Dan Quayle’s.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

5/ Vance faces greater pressure than Walz in the debate for a couple of reasons. First, he has to make viewers forget Trump’s humiliating loss to Harris in the previous encounter.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

4/ VP debaters often ignore each other and concentrate instead on the top-of-the-ticket nominees. It will be interesting to see how much Vance focuses on Walz as opposed to Harris, and how much Walz focuses on Trump as opposed to Walz.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

3/ Walz is well positioned to make the case that Trump is too old and Vance is too green. Vance has no equivalent line of attack, and in fact will want to draw attention away from Trump’s age.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

2/ With Trump the oldest major-party nominee in history & Biden’s June debate debacle still looming in voters’ minds, the age issue is particularly fertile ground for Walz. Plus, it’s a twofer: an opportunity to attack both halves of the ticket in one fell swoop.

[Alan Schroeder @ProfASchroeder]

1/ Two previous VP debates could provide a road map for Tim Walz tomorrow night: Bentsen-Quayle in 1988 & Biden-Ryan in 2012. In both, the more seasoned candidate made his younger opponent look too callow & inexperienced to assume the presidency.