Live-Drawing The Veep Debate, 2024
Civil on the surface, seething underneath
Both men—JD Vance and Tim Walz— last night on the debate stage were so nice to each other it almost became comical. Both saying things like, “I’m sure my opponent doesn’t want to cause people harm/rob citizens of their money/cause choas and suffering…”. Or, “A lot of what my opponent says make sense, but I have infinitely better ideas that I can explain in a way that might convince you or confuse you sufficiently…”. Vance was at his most charming, creepy self— the other side of JD Vance being attack dog. Tim Walz was what we are used to seeing, Tim Walz, a nice guy. He did not attack, he was polite.
Two moments stood out to me. Walz bungled his answer as to why he was untruthful about when he was in China (don’t know the details of the story yet) and Vance was—several times when asked—unable to say that Donald Trump lost the election in 2020. He also said there was a “peaceful transfer of power” on January 20th. Right, just a few weeks after a violent mob tried to forcefully steel the ballots and people were killed.
Vance lied repeatedly, but in a less obvious way than how Trump lies. Vance is smoother than his running mate. As was said on CNN afterward by commentator Van Jones (paraphrasing): “I went to the same law school as Vance (that would be Yale), that’s what they teach us to be: smooth, smart and slimy.”
I wanted Walz to fact check Vance more, push back more, catch him in his lies and exagerations. I wanted Vance to stop answering every question with sweetly saying the female moderators’ names. It came across as sexist to me. Vance turned to immigration at every turn, and hounded the idea that Harris has been in office for four years and done nothing about any of it. Walz seemed on the offensive and stared out seeming nervous, but found his footing soon enough.
Both men were given the opportunity to give closing statements. Tim seemed real and compassionate; with a forced smile, JD emanated fake kindness and concern.
If anyone is just joining the political season, who, unlike me, have not been watching the news cycle like a hawk, they will think this was a reasonable debate, two men politely hashing it out. And in a way it was very civil, it was a relief in some ways. But under the surface, it was not, and I know that. Vance sugar coated crazy, to quote Van Jones again.
And it’s scary.
I have not looked at the news yet this morning to see what the mainstream media thinks about the debate, i.e. who won, who lost. I haven’t read the pundits and experts. I don’t think it matters. All I know is that I know who I’m voting for, that hasn’t changed. Walz and Harris represent democracy, decency. They are caring people. The other two are anything but.
Watching Vance last night made me even more worried because he’s such a skilled camelion. We cannot normalize Trump and Vance
.
Here are some sketches I did before the debate, just getting a feel for the two men.
I hope you have a good Wednesday. Thanks for being here.
VOTE.
"Pro women"? It's all in the converse. Great summary Liza. Thank you, as always.
It was certainly an interesting event. You have caught the night well with your drawings. Vance was so squinty eyed throughout, although I suppose he was watching the time clock. He just stuck to the same old lines that we have heard over and over. While it was overly "nice", what a relief to have opponants acting reasonably. I refuse to listen to the talking heads or read the media's views. Watching myself with a friend allowed me to form my own opinions. My favorite part was when they hit the mute button. Too many obvious lies coming out of Vance's little pursed mouth. BIG SIGH!