Richmond political leaders, community members react to VP debate

Local Virginia political leaders backed their respective candidates and praised their performances following Tuesday’s vice presidential debate between Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.

Vance and Walz sparred over foreign policy, gun violence, democracy and climate change in the wake of Hurricane Helene during the debate moderated by CBS news anchors Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan.

“I do think that it was a really policy heavy debate, so it was just really great to see Tim Walz be able to show us that not only is he a cheerleader for Vice President Harris, but he also knows what he's talking about,” said Lisa Vedernikova Khanna, President of Metro Richmond Area Young Democrats. 

Khanna said she enjoyed seeing Walz in the debate context where he had more of an opportunity to discuss policy. 

Stephanie Hazekamp, chairman of the Young Republican Federation of Virginia, also noted an increased focus on policy during this debate in contrast to the presidential debate. 

“I saw J.D. Vance. He was confident. He was well spoken. He really showed a deep knowledge of the issues,” Hazekamp said. 

Policy discussion was the focus of Tuesday’s debate. The candidates were asked about mass deportations out of the United States, conflict in the Middle East, the Affordable Care Act, the housing crisis, and their stances on abortion.

“These two vice presidential candidates were more adept than the two presidential candidates at explaining their policy positions,” said University of Richmond political science professor Dr. Daniel Palazzolo.

Palazzolo said that voters likely would come away from the debate with a better understanding of the focus of each ticket. 

Differing from September’s presidential debate on ABC, CBS opted not to do live fact-checking by the moderators. Instead, the network aired a QR code for fact-checking on the screen that briefly stopped working near the beginning of the debate.

“When J.D. Vance quoted a study, I died. It was amazing,” Hazekamp said, praising the vice presidential candidate for citing his sources.

Khanna said she noticed a more respectful tone in the vice presidential debate than the presidential debate. 

“Voters got to hear more on actual policies, rather than Donald Trump trying to make it about himself and spew irrelevant lies,” Khanna said.

The candidates each took on a more moderate tone and aimed to appeal to swing voters, softening the edges on potentially divisive issues such as abortion and guns, Palazzolo said. 

“J.D. Vance was trying to appeal more to women, and Tim Walz was trying to appeal more to men, working class men in particular,” Palazzolo said.

Metro Richmond Area Young Democrats hosted a watch party for the debate in the Fan District. Around 70 people of all ages, including elected officials, attended the debate watch party, cheering and booing at certain answers, Khanna said. 

“It was a pretty remarkably engaged crowd,” Khanna said.

Hazekamp said that she would be interested to see what polls say in the days following the debate, but that she thought the main takeaway for voters would be the discussion around housing and the economy.

“It's one thing to talk about all these big, high-level issues, but at the end of the day, the questions are; Can I put food on my table? Can I fill up my car with gas? Can I afford to put a roof over my head?” Hazekamp said.

Contact features editor Mary Margaret Clouse at marymargaret.clouse@richmond.edu