America's time machine: Takeaways from a refreshingly civil VP debate

For 90 minutes, American politics was unrecognizable: Two candidates, diametrically opposed on the issues, engaging in a friendly, respectful, substantive debate about the future of a country they love.

• To cap it off: a handshake and some light chit-chat between spouses.

Why it matters: For all the nasty attacks exchanged on the campaign trail, the VP debate between Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz offered a rare lesson in civility — a reminder of what politics used to be, and what it hopefully still can be.

• At least a half-dozen times, Vance and Walz surprised viewers by expressing agreement on America's root problems — and more remarkably, on the potential solutions.
• As CBS News anchor John Dickerson put it in the network's post-game analysis: "It was a cordial debate of the kind that people mostly say they want."

Zoom in: In one especially poignant exchange on gun violence, Walz shared that his teenage son had personally witnessed a shooting at a community center.

• "I 100% believe Sen. Vance hates [gun violence]. It's abhorrent and it breaks your heart," Walz said, turning to his opponent.
• Vance responded: "Tim, first of all, I didn't know that your 17-year-old witnessed a shooting. And I'm sorry about that and I hope he's doing OK. Christ have mercy, it is awful."

5 takeaways

1. Vance wins style points

• It was clear from the jump that Vance, a 40-year-old Yale-educated senator who relishes adversarial interviews, would be a far slicker, more polished debater than Walz.
• It's one of the main reasons former President Trump chose Vance — and it paid off, as he repeatedly hammered Walz with messages that Trump was unable to articulate in his debate against Vice President Harris.
• A conservative culture warrior beloved by the MAGA base, Vance clearly saw the debate as a chance to present a more humble, pro-family image in hopes of boosting his historically low favorability ratings.

2. Vance launders Trump's positions — and his own

• With his slick debating style, Vance made a forceful, intellectual case for Trumpism that — like his running mate — sometimes relied on falsehoods and mischaracterizations.
• Vance falsely claimed, for example, that Trump "salvaged" the Affordable Care Act — when in fact, the former president spent much of his first term trying to repeal Obamacare.
• On abortion, Vance offered a compassionate acknowledgment that the GOP had lost the American people's "trust" on the issue — but then falsely claimed he "never supported" a federal abortion ban.

3. Walz's "knucklehead" moment

• Walz, who acknowledged to Harris during the VP vetting process that he wasn't a strong debater, got off to a nervous and rocky start — often speaking so fast that his answers devolved into word salad.
• In his worst moment of the night, Walz struggled to answer a question about why he had claimed to be in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests — eventually saying he "misspoke."
• Still, the Harris campaign sees Walz's unfiltered, everyman demeanor as core to his appeal: "I'm a knucklehead at times," the former high school teacher admitted. "I will talk a lot. I will get caught up in the rhetoric."

4. Trump screams from sidelines

• Trump seemed intent on counter-programming his own running mate's big night, reminding America who tops the ticket with live, all-caps screeds on Truth Social throughout the debate.
• Minutes before the debate started, Trump stole headlines by downplaying traumatic brain injuries suffered by more than 100 U.S. service members after an Iranian missile attack in January 2020.
• "What does injured mean? You mean because they had a headache?" Trump chided reporters at a press conference in Milwaukee, serving up a fresh new attack line for Walz to seize upon during the debate.

5. Walz roasts Vance on Jan. 6

• In a night that largely belonged to Vance, Walz finished strong — and gave Democrats a viral clip for their pro-democracy message — by asking his opponent whether Trump lost the 2020 election.
• "Tim, I'm focused on the future," Vance responded, pivoting to attack Harris over alleged "censorship" by the Biden administration during the COVID pandemic.
• "That is a damning non-answer," Walz shot back, before twisting the knife with a reference to Vance's predecessor: "Mike Pence made that decision to certify that election. That's why Mike Pence isn't on this stage."