Tonight’s vice presidential debate watch-along

Please join me and Michael Lahanas-Calderón right here, starting at 8:45 ET/5:45 PT — as we provide you context, clarity, and company.

Friends,

Anyone remember Geraldine Ferraro’s vice presidential debate against George H.W. Bush in 1984?

No? Well, if it’s any consolation, I did watch it, but I don’t recall a thing.

What about Lloyd Bentsen’s debate with Dan Quayle in 1988? All I remember was Bentsen’s line: “I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.” Ouch.

What about Al Gore’s face-off against Jack Kemp in 1996? Or Dick Cheney’s against John Edwards in 2004? Or Joe Biden against Sarah Palin in 2008?

Let’s face it. Vice presidential debates aren’t particularly memorable.

But tonight’s will be especially important, for four reasons:

As I said yesterday, most voters know Trump and have made their minds up about him, but they don’t know Kamala Harris. Hence, a major goal for both Tim Walz and JD Vance will be to give voters a fuller picture of her (although, obviously, opposite pictures).

Second, Vance is setting himself up to be Trump’s heir apparent for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, so his character and temperament, as well as his positions on issues, are potentially important to the future.

Third, although a vice president normally has few responsibilities (FDR’s vice president John Nance Garner famously described the office as being “not worth a bucket of warm piss”), the vice president is a heartbeat away from the Oval Office — a fact that may be especially important when we’ve already seen two assassination attempts on a presidential candidate and when the oldest presidential candidate in history is running for office (whose incoherence is growing by the day).

Finally, tonight’s debate is likely to be the last debate before Election Day in a truncated general-election campaign. So this could be the last time both sides of a polarized nation tuned in to hear the other side’s arguments.

So, you might want to tune in. Michael Lahanas-Calderón and I will do our best to provide you with context, clarity (fact checks), and company.

Please join us right here, starting at 8:45 ET/5:45 PT.