How to watch the VP debate – and the only question that needs to be asked

Typically, a vice presidential debate isn’t something you set your alarms on.

But since when is anything related to the 2024 election typical?

It was crazy enough before President Joe Biden failed in the presidential debate with Donald Trump in June and later withdrew from the race by endorsing Kamala Harris. I mean, when Trump is part of the equation, the craziness is built in, by his own design. As far as debates go, we’re two against two in m so farAdness and great television. (The actual politics leave something to be desired.)

So it’s no surprise that the debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz, the two vice presidential candidates, is must-see television. And not just because there is such a conflict between style, personality and politics. This time there is more to it.

When will the VP debate take place?

The vice presidential debate is scheduled for Tuesday, October 1, at 6 p.m. Arizona time on CBS and Paramount+ and is available to stream live on other networks. And they will. Because this is going to be crazy.

Here’s why: Any story that insists, “These are the moderators’ questions.” must ask” is almost always worthless. If you’re so great, why don’t you moderate? But in this case, there’s something the anchors, “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” anchor Margaret Brennan, really need to get an answer to.

It’s directed at Vance: Why, when you knew that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, didn’t eat pets, did you say they did anyway? And why do you continue to spread a racist lie that has caused incredible harm to the community? (Vance has said several times that Springfield residents claim immigrants eat animals; there is no evidence of this.)

Vance told CNN he would “write stories so that when necessary, the American media will actually pay attention to the suffering of the American people.” In doing so, he increases their suffering.

You have to ask him: Are you still lying? How do we know what you say is true?

This is how the debate should begin. Vance’s answer will influence every answer he gives afterward. The Trump campaign, and Vance in particular, must answer for political reasons and be held accountable for dangerous, racist lies. Do you want to call out Walz for his characterization of his accomplishments in the Army National Guard? Fine, fair game. Do it.

But no one made bomb threats because of it. A false equivalence is not enough here.

Does the VP debate matter? Yes, somehow

Is all of this just as important as political questions? Yes. In this rare case it is. This does not mean that political questions should not be asked. They should. After I asked that. It would not be the case that moderators would dictate the debate. Vance invented this himself and ultimately has to answer for it.

And about these political questions. … I don’t know everything there is to know about government, but I can’t remember anyone in Mrs. Hatcher’s 12th grade civics class describing the role of vice president as anything other than lurking stand by in the event of a disaster emergency. Surely they should be qualified if they become president one day. Aside from that and the occasional tie-breaking vote as President of the U.S. Senate, it’s not much.

That’s why I’m surprised the Harris camp hasn’t pushed harder against Trump blaming her for everything that’s ever gone wrong in the last four years. Anderson Cooper on CNN is the only journalist I’ve seen asking Republicans if this means Mike Pence is responsible for all the successes of the Trump presidency.

The point is that this debate, like most other contemporary debates, is as much a television event as it is a political event. The first two presidential debates this year were unusually eventful, not because they were great debates—they certainly weren’t—but because of the strange things that happened during them. In the first, Biden had trouble putting sentences together, especially at the beginning. In the second step, Harris calmly incited Trump to sabotage himself. “They eat the dogs!” “They eat the cats!”

No, they aren’t. And on Tuesday, the anchors should try to get Vance to say so.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Does the Vance-Walz VP debate matter? The answer to this question is: