The vice presidential debate was a sad reflection of how low our standards have sunk – Orange County Register

If you watched Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, you’re now very familiar with the life stories of Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz. It was as if they couldn’t help but lull us to sleep with long and boring prologues about their childhood before answering any question. By the time they got around to saying anything remotely relevant, we had already forgotten what was being asked.

The problem with Vance is that he is an unprincipled yes man whose only goal is to advance his political career. He has changed many of his views to parrot Trump’s views. That was evident in his answers to questions on everything from abortion to Trump’s election denial.

Before Trump was elected in 2016, when it was politically safe to criticize Trump, he called him unfit for office. Later, as the landscape changed in 2020, he privately called Trump America’s Hitler. Now that he will benefit as Trump’s vice president, he is more than happy to stand side by side with his Hitler. He has transformed into a different person, just like the conniving, dishonest politician he is.

Vance was asked what responsibility the Trump administration would have to reduce the impacts of climate change. Vance said, “Let’s say it’s true [that carbon emissions are driving climate change]if you believe that, what would you do? They want to relocate as much American manufacturing as possible and produce as much energy as possible in the United States of America because we are the cleanest economy in the world.”

So a potential future Vice President of the United States doesn’t have the ability to think about the implications. Vance failed to consider that the reason imports from countries like China and India are affordable is precisely because of their lower wages and lax environmental protections. If the products we currently consume from these countries were instead made in America, the higher wages, safety standards and environmental restrictions would make these products many times more expensive.

Asked how Wharton School economists estimated that Trump’s economic plan would add trillions to the deficit, Vance said: “Many of the same economists attacked Donald Trump’s plans and they have doctorates, but they don’t have common sense, and they have that.” “Not.” I have no wisdom.”

How stupid must business students across the country feel? They have wasted years studying complex micro- and macroeconomic concepts to form a considered and informed opinion about economic policy, when they could have simply consulted their gut feeling. Why did Walz not hold Vance responsible for any of this?

This leads us to the appearance of Governor Tim Walz. The biggest takeaway is that Walz failed to capitalize on Vance’s many lies and bizarre positions. A competent and knowledgeable person would have pressed Vance on his many dubious economic claims.

When Vance expressed his disdain for expert opinions, it provided a perfect opportunity to show that Trump’s nominee for vice president is a complete cocky clueless person who thinks he knows better than those who have dedicated their lives to studying their specific field of research – not necessarily in these exact words.

Instead, Walz spoke to the camera and spoke to the public about how they should listen to their doctors if they need heart surgery. A much better strategy would have been to link Vance’s comment to a vicious trait shared by Trump and his vice presidential candidate.