Something Everyone Else Missed

I had several takeaways from last night's debate. Irrespective of who "won", I thought there was a key subliminal effect -- which one do you not want to watch on the evening news for the next four years? I think Walz was the overwhelming pick in that category, mostly because of how he acted when he wasn't the one talking. I had a hard time finding stills of this on the web, because I think everyone missed it.

While Vance spoke, Walz would screw his face into a frown with the corners of his mouth turned so exaggeratedly down, surrounded by his puffy cheeks, that he looked like a Muppet. In fact, looking around the web, this seems to be a common expression the guy has when his face is in repose.

Then, for the whole time Vance spoke, he'd whip out his pen and scribble furiously. You'd think that he was about to come up with the precise mot juste that he'd use deftly to skewer Vance in a perfect, well-timed riposte -- but it never happened. He'd just revert to the same old bloviation when his turn came around again.

I think he did this either because he decided, or his handlers told him, that this is what you're supposed to do on the middle school debate team, look like you're busily coming up with points to refute your opponent -- but tellingly, he never looked down at what he'd scribbled when it was his turn to speak and rebut. The scribbling was all for show.

The contrast with Vance couldn't have been greater. While Walz spoke, Vance would turn toward him, listening respectfully, only occasionally glancing over to the camera with a twinkle in his eye. There was a telling moment after the debate when Walz and his wife went out for a pizza, and a reeporter asked him to clarify what he meant when he said he was friends with school shooters.

Reporter: Can you clarify what you meant when you said you befriended school shooters?

Walz: *stares at pizza*

Reporter: Why did you say you were in Hong Kong when reports say you weren't?

Walz: *stares at pizza* pic.twitter.com/dIx0NFrqPr

— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) October 2, 2024

I have a feeling poor Walz knew what he was in for:

Kamala Harris “throws around F-bombs” and constantly berated her staff when she was California Attorney General, according to a shocking report.

An unearthed 2019 op-ed from professor Terry McAteer published in California newspaper The Union describes the “eye-opening” month his son Gregory spent as an intern for Harris, now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.

McAteer, a Democrat with generational political ties to the party, claimed his son was subjected to a “side of Kamala Harris which the general public does not know”.

“Harris vocally throws around ‘F-bombs’ and other profanity constantly in her berating of staff and others,” McAteer wrote.

The post-mortem in the Harris camp is going to look something like this:

Vance couldn’t believe his luck. The Republican vice-presidential nominee was only too pleased to play the game that he and the governor were commonsensical, bipartisan people. Walz and Vance kept saying how much they “actually” agreed with each other on housing, jobs and support for families. It was sweet, in a way, to see a Democrat and a Republican spar lightly with each other, harking back to a more gentle era B.T. – Before Trump. But, “C’mon man, give me a break!” Joe Biden might have roared, if he were still awake. There is too much at stake.

. . . Then, in the final minutes, Walz nailed Vance on his willingness to sacrifice democracy for his boss. With any luck this will be the soundbite of the night. “Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?” Walz asked. “Tim, I’m focused on the future,” Vance dodged. “I think you’ve got a really clear choice on who is going to honour that democracy, and who is going to honour Donald Trump,” Walz concluded. But by then, a supremely confident Vance was calling his new buddy by his first name.

But the bottrom line isn't who said what, or who had the best zinger. The bottom line is that the public overwhelmingly decided it didn't want Walz, the frowning Muppet, on the evening news for the next four years.

Kamala has already signaled that poor Walz is going to be the scapegoat here -- but I don't think she ever seriously wanted to win the election. She wanted a few months of five-star hotel rooms, fawning sycophants, and hobnobbing with billionaires, and that would be plenty. Then she'll have the ghostwritten book deal, the talk show circuit, the six-figure speaking fees, the parties in the Hamptons, and she can blame it all on poor Tim.