JD Vance vs Walz Debate Prep
Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Senator JD Vance of Ohio will stand behind lecterns for their debate next week, according to three people briefed on the plans, the first time since 2008 that the vice-presidential candidates have not been sitting for a debate.
The two candidates and CBS News, which is hosting the debate at its New York studios, are still in negotiations on all of the rules, but the network and the two campaigns have agreed that Mr. Walz and Mr. Vance will be standing, according to the three people, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the preparations.
The rules are expected to be broadly similar to those for the presidential debate two weeks ago between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump.
The last time presidential running mates stood for a debate was when Joseph R. Biden Jr., then a Delaware senator, and Sarah Palin, then the Alaska governor, met in St. Louis in 2008. Nearly 70 million people tuned in to that debate, the most-watched vice-presidential clash in history. Four years ago, 58 million peoplewatched Ms. Harris debate Vice President Mike Pence.
The question of whether the candidates should stand or sit has been determined in recent presidential cycles by the Commission on Presidential Debates, which sought an aesthetic difference for the vice-presidential contests by having the candidates be seated. But this year, Mr. Biden’s campaign, which had long been frustrated with the commission, circumvented it by separately arranging debates with the Trump campaign and television networks.
For most political candidates, it is not generally considered a matter of great consequence whether they sit or stand for a debate, barring physical limitations or a significant height disparity. Mr. Walz stands just under six feet tall, and Mr. Vance is about six feet tall.
Mr. Walz has been studying for the debate in Minneapolis and in between campaign stops. Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary who is playing Mr. Vance in mock sessions, has been traveling back and forth to Minneapolis to take part in the debate preparations along with participating via videoconference.
The Minnesota governor and his debate team will decamp later this week to Harbor Springs, Mich., a tiny bayside community on Lake Michigan four hours north of Detroit by car, the people briefed on the debate plans said. There, his aides will arrange a multiday debate camp over the weekend where Mr. Walz and Mr. Buttigieg will conduct a series of dress rehearsals complete with lecterns, mock moderators and television-style lighting.
The Walz team is seeking to replicate much of the debate preparations for Ms. Harris, who took her team to Pittsburgh for a long weekend before she faced Mr. Trump this month. Walz aides and advisers involved in the debate planning said he was likely to occasionally leave his hotel in Michigan to mingle with locals and tourists.