The matchup, hosted by CBS News in New York, might not carry the same stakes as the Sept. 10 debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. But it offers their top lieutenants a fresh opportunity to introduce themselves, vouch for their bosses and fulfill a time-honored role of a running mate: attack dog. It will involve the biggest television and online audience either No. 2 will see before Election Day.
Walz, the 60-year-old Minnesota governor, and Vance, a 40-year-old U.S. senator from Ohio, have previewed potential approaches for weeks. Walz, before Harris selected him, was the Democrat who coined weird as a go-to pejorative for the Republican ticket. Vance assails the governor's far-left record as proof Democrats are too far left for voters.
Vance has mocked his fellow veteran's military service record. Walz hammers Vance's opposition to abortion rights and his views on family life. Both men have played up their small-town, middle-America credentials — contrasts to Trump, the billionaire native New Yorker, and Harris, the California Bay Area native.
CBS announced Friday that it will be up to the candidates to keep each other honest at Tuesday's debate — a sticking point from earlier debates this year.
