Fair, but I’m not very worried about it. He’s still in the negatives, and as news comes out about exactly how dishonest he was throughout, I think his negatives will tick back up.

He didn’t do himself any favors when he refused to admit the 2020 election wasn’t stolen and acted like the slippery weasel he is when questioned on abortion.

Morning after thoughts:

• Walz is not actually a bad debater. He’s not polished and practiced, but his command of policy and numbers means he still comes across as fairly confident. He knows what he knows, and that can stand in for polish.
• Vance didn’t do badly, but I genuinely can’t remember any of his answers, and that’s kind of weird. I think it’s because he answered like he’d been raised by a generative AI instead of human parents. Seriously, can anyone actually remember anything he said, without looking it up?
• Walz had more flubs. But he also got in a lot more hits. It remains to be seen which will stick in the minds of voters more, if either.
• The lack of Trump on the stage made this one a lot more mature. It’s amazing what a difference it makes when one of the debaters isn’t a demented man-baby.

The way I see it, Walz’s clearly superior command of policy details, and the way that fact-checkers are counting nearly everything Vance said as a lie, gives Walz the technical win, while Vance gets the nod for being more polished. In the end, I don’t think this debate will matter much to the election.

Those with an interest in history might remember that back during the 1988 election, Lloyd Bentsen absolutely demolished Dan Quayle, George H.W. Bush’s pick for VP, in a debate. But it was forgotten in a matter of days - if not hours - and Bush went on to win handily.

I think this debate will likely be forgotten soon, too.

It really was great.

Vance just admitted that their health care plan is basically to keep Obamacare.

A little more than an hour in…

Vance has been exactly as polished as expected, other than a slightly rough start coming off as robotic. He’s managed a few genuinely human-seeming moments, too, especially upon learning that one of Walz’s kids witnessed a shooting. But he’s been lying nearly constantly.

Walz isn’t as polished, but he’s been doing much better in that department than I would have expected, while still coming off as very nice and genuine. He’s had a couple of flubs, but none of them were debate killers, while he’s gotten in far more actual hits than Vance, by far. Like, it’s not even close.

There’s another thing: Vance is legitimately boring to listen to. I didn’t realize this before, but his voice could be used as a sleep aid.

I’m biased. I’ll own that. So take from this what you will: I think Walz is winning. It’s close, but I think he’s coming off as more honest and more real, while Vance is coming off as dishonest and plastic.

Come on, it’s obvious he meant their victims.

I have two kids. It’s very depressing.

Walz is knocking it out of the park on guns.

Vance: “The white guys shooting up schools with legally purchased guns are the fault of immigrants.”

Eh, I don’t think so. Yes, it was a fumble, but not a devastating one. And Vance is just constantly lying, then getting called on it.

Yep. Fortunately, Walz is doing a good job of neutralizing his crap.

That’s because he’s a genuinely nice person.

I’m enjoying the fact that CBS brought receipts about Vance’s past statements about Donald Trump.

So far, I like the way the moderators are handling things.

I don’t think the experts Walz was talking about and the “experts” Vance is talking about are the same experts.

I think this is how the evening is going to go. Vance simply won’t directly answer any questions.

The way this evening is going for Vance:

MODERATOR: [DIRECT QUESTION]

VANCE: “I’m going to talk about something completely different now.”

Walz answer was really good.

They got it back. Mics got cut.