WASHINGTON (AP) — Tim Walz and JD Vance will meet for their first and possibly only vice presidential debate Tuesday, in what could be the last debate for both campaigns to argue their case before the election.
The debate in New York hosted by CBS News will give Vance, a Republican freshman senator from Ohio, and Walz, a two-term Democratic governor of Minnesota, the chance to introduce themselves, make the case for their running mates, and go on the attack against the opposing ticket.
Tuesday's matchup could have an outsized impact. Polls have shown Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump locked in a close contest, giving added weight to anything that can sway voters on the margins, including the impression left by the vice presidential candidates. It also might be the last debate of the campaign, with the Harris and Trump teams failing to agree on another meeting.
The role of a presidential running mate is typically to serve as an attack dog for the person at the top of the ticket, arguing against the opposing presidential candidate and their proxy on stage. Both Vance and Walz have embraced that role.
Vance's occasionally confrontational news interviews and appearances on the campaign trail have underscored why Trump picked him for the Republican ticket despite his past biting criticisms of the former president, including once suggesting Trump would be “America’s Hitler.”
Walz, meanwhile, catapulted onto Harris’ campaign by branding Trump and Republicans as “ just weird,” creating an attack line for Democrats seeking to argue Republicans are disconnected from the American people.
A new AP-NORC poll found that Walz is better liked than Vance, potentially giving the Republican an added challenge.
After a Harris-Trump debate in which Republicans complained about the ABC News moderators fact-checking Trump, Tuesday's debate will not feature any corrections from the hosts. CBS News said the onus for pointing out misstatements will be on the candidates, with moderators “facilitating those opportunities.”
Ahead of the debate, allies of both men were lowering expectations that their candidate will have a decisive performance.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called Vance “an accomplished debater” and contrasted that with Walz, saying he was “not a lawyer-debater type.” Klobuchar said Walz spent time growing up thinking about football, not debating.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, portrayed Walz much differently than Klobuchar.
“Tim Walz is very good in debates, really good. He’s been a politician for nearly 20 years. He’ll be very well prepared for tomorrow night,” Miller told reporters Monday. He predicted the Democratic governor of Minnesota will be much more “buttoned up” than he is on the campaign trail and ready to defend his record, but added, “That’s not to say that JD Vance won’t be prepared tomorrow, or that somehow he isn’t up to the challenge.”
Vance, speaking to reporters last week, said he didn’t “have to prepare that much” for the debate because he had “well-developed views on public policy.”
But Vance has been doing debate prep sessions where he’s been joined by his wife, Usha Vance, Miller, senior Vance aides, and Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who has played Walz, according to a person familiar with his preparations who requested anonymity to discuss strategy. Moderating their mock debates was Monica Crowley, who served in the Trump administration, hosts a podcast and contributed to Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for remaking government that Trump claims he knows " nothing about.”
“JD Vance is prepared to wipe the floor with Tim Walz and expose him for the radical liberal he is,” Emmer told reporters on Monday.
Walz’s debate prep has included sessions hunkered down in a Minneapolis hotel, with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg standing in for Vance, according to a person familiar with the process who requested anonymity to discuss the campaign's internal dynamics. Others helping in the preparations include Rob Friedlander and Zayn Siddique, who helped Harris prepare for her debate with Trump, along with other aides to Walz and the campaign.
Klobuchar said Walz will show the American people “a real person” who brings “buoyancy” and positivity to the debate stage that will contrast with Vance, but “he is not going to be shy about pointing out the problems.”
“Just because he’s an optimistic, positive person doesn’t mean he’s a pushover,” she said.
Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York, Josh Boak in Baltimore, and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
This combination of photos shows Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, left, at the DNC on Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago, and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, on Sept. 25, 2024, in Traverse City, Mich. (AP Photo)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — With a strike deadline looming just after midnight on Tuesday, the union for 45,000 dockworkers appeared poised to walk picket lines at East and Gulf coast ports even though progress was reported in negotiations ahead of a major work stoppage.
As midnight approached at the port of Philadelphia, just over a dozen workers gathered outside and two rental trucks arrived with picket signs that read “Fight automation, save jobs, ILA demands” and “Automation hurts families. ILA stands for job protections.”
In a statement earlier Monday, the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents 36 ports from Maine to Texas, said that both sides have moved from their previous positions. The alliance said it also asked the union to extend the current contract.
A strike could silence ports that handle about half the ship cargo coming in and going out of the U.S.
The International Longshoremen’s Association did not immediately return messages late Monday.
“We are hopeful that this could allow us to fully resume collective bargaining around the other outstanding issues in an effort to reach an agreement,” the alliance statement said.
The Alliance said its latest offer would increases wages by nearly 50% over the six-year contract, and triple employer contributions to retirement plans. The offer also would strengthen health care options and keep current language that limits automation.
The union has demanded 77% pay raises over six years to help deal with inflation. Many of the ILA workers can make over $200,000 per year, but the union says they must work large amounts of overtime to reach that figure.
The two sides had not held formal negotiations since June, and a strike appeared imminent. In a statement Monday morning, the union said the ports had refused its demands for a fair contract and the alliance seemed intent on a strike. The alliance has said it was willing to bargain.
A work stoppage would significantly snarl the nation's supply chain, potentially leading to higher prices and delays in goods reaching households and businesses if it drags on for weeks.
If drawn out, the strike would force businesses to pay shippers for delays and cause some goods to arrive late for peak holiday shopping season — potentially impacting delivery of anything from toys or artificial Christmas trees, to cars, coffee and fruit.
A strike could have an almost immediate impact on supplies of perishable imports like bananas, for example. The ports that could be affected by the strike handle 3.8 million metric tons of bananas each year, or 75% of the nation’s supply, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Americans could also face higher prices as retailers feel the supply squeeze.
“If the strikes go ahead, they will cause enormous delays across the supply chain, a ripple effect which will no doubt roll into 2025 and cause chaos across the industry," noted Jay Dhokia, founder of supply chain management and logistics firm Pro3PL.
Dhokia added that East Coast ports aren't the only ones at risk for disruption, as concern leading up to the strike has already diverted many shipments out West, adding to route congestion and more pressure on demand. Impacts will also be felt internationally — particularly in places like the United Kingdom, he said, where the U.S. is its largest trading partner.
In addition to higher wages, ILA members want a total ban on the automation of cranes, gates and container-moving trucks used in the loading or unloading of freight.
A strike by the ILA workers — set to impact ports from Maine to Texas — would be the first by the union since 1977. West Coast dockworkers belong to a different union and aren’t involved in the strike.
If a strike were deemed a danger to U.S. economic health, President Joe Biden could, under the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, seek a court order for an 80-day cooling-off period. That would suspend the strike.
Just weeks ahead of a tight presidential election, Biden has signaled that he will not exercise this power. During an exchange with reporters on Sunday, Biden said “no” when asked if he planned to intervene in the potential work stoppage.
A White House official said that at Biden's direction, the administration has been in regular communication with the ILA and the alliance to keep the negotiations moving forward. The president directed Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard to convene the alliance's board members Monday afternoon and urge them to resolve the dispute fairly and quickly — in a way that accounts for the success of shipping companies in recent years and contributions of union workers.
Krisher in reported from Detroit. AP Writers Mae Anderson in New York, Stephen Groves in Dover, Delaware, Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, and Zeke Miller and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
FILE - Containers are moved at the Port of New York and New Jersey in Elizabeth, N.J., on June 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FILE - In this photo provided by the Georgia Ports Authority, Griff Lynch, President and CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority, provides an update on the Port of Savannah's progress and future trajectory to 1,200 leaders from the maritime, supply chain, business and political sectors Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, during the annual State of the Port event in Savannah, Ga. (Stephen B. Morton/Georgia Ports Authority via AP, File)
FILE - Shipping containers are stacked in the Port of New York and New Jersey in Elizabeth, N.J., May 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
