It was pretty clear that JD Vance wiped the floor with Tim Walz at the Vice Presidential debate Tuesday night.
He was calm, cool, and a great explainer of the “Trump brand.”
When even CNN admits that Vance “carried it” on the main points of economy and immigration, you know that’s not good news for the Democrats.
But how did it go over with the general public and maybe, particularly, with the undecided middle?
I wrote a bit about how a lot of people were taken with Vance’s intelligence and his eyes. That certainly helped. So, I think it’s fair to say he just wiped out the “weird” talking point.
READ MORE: Vance Destroys the ‘Weird’ Lie, Now Dems Have a Bigger Problem – He’s ‘Hot’
WATCH: Even CNN Thought Vance ‘Carried It’ on Main Issues,
While Jennings Just Levels Walz
HOT TAKES: Democrats, Media Seethe As Republicans Cheer After Vance Dominates Vice Presidential Debate
But by all the metrics, people were saying Vance came out on top.
The WaPo focus group had 14-8 for Vance with swing state voters.
WaPo asked swing state voter focus group who won the VP debate
They overwhelmingly said Vance pic.twitter.com/KsL4FfHNVN
— Nuance Bro (@NuanceBro) October 2, 2024
Then there was Frank Luntz’s focus group. Only five of the 14 had been leaning toward Trump-Vance.
At the first commercial break, my #VPDebate focus group says by a 10-3 margin that JD Vance is winning.
That is a big deal since only 5 of them were leaning toward Trump-Vance when the debate began.
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) October 2, 2024
It got better as the debate went on. It ended up 12-2, Vance. So he moved a lot of people.
Final focus group vote tonight after the #VPDebate: 12-2 in favor of JD Vance pic.twitter.com/LgahO2za7C
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) October 2, 2024
The liberal media snap polls couldn’t even find a way to give it to Walz; they had to admit Vance won. He even got over 50 percent, which is an amazing feat with such polls.
CNN instant-poll: Who won VP debate?
🟥 J.D. Vance: 51%
🟦 Tim Walz: 49%— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) October 2, 2024
CBS poll: Who won VP debate? (debate watchers)
🟥 J.D. Vance: 42%
🟦 Tim Walz: 41%
⬜ Tie: 17% pic.twitter.com/wgLYmujdhf— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) October 2, 2024
Now, that looks close, but you have to view it through the lens of the liberal media.
As Rebecca Downs of our sister site, Townhall, observed about the CNN poll:
The 51 percent support for Vance is even greater news for the Trump-Vance ticket, given that he’s the first one to have received over 50 percent. Even in previous polls for the Republican candidate won, it was only with plurality support.
It also reportedly oversampled Democrats by five points.
JD Vance is the first time a Republican VP ever received over 50% in an instant poll… and it oversampled Democrats by 5 points pic.twitter.com/sjb2BXvWGg
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) October 2, 2024
The polls were already trending toward Trump, this has to be a crushing blow for the Democrats, when they likely hoped that Walz was going to provide some real help, given Kamala’s problems. But unfortunately for them, he has his own issues. Now, we’ll have to see how this may have influenced independents as more information comes out.
But Vance certainly did a great job. As Scott Jennings noted, Tim Walz got savaged.
CNN’s @ScottJenningsKY on the #VPDebate: “It’s pretty clear Vance outclassed Walz tonight. I mean, I was watching this and all I could think of was — man, Walz is so in over his head. I mean, can you imagine this guy sitting in the White House Situation Room with that facial… pic.twitter.com/AfbysS07zp
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 2, 2024
