During the 2024 presidential Election, most Americans are arguing about Trump versus Harris who the right presidential pick is with the DNC? (Democratic National Convention) Kamala Harris’s debate performance and Trump’s debate woes, and currently election coverage is heating up. It seems right for the Santa Rosa Journalism team to cover the two potential vice-presidential picks. The two potential Vice Presidents are Tim Walz (D) and JD Vance (R) this article will provide a detailed synopsis of both men, who they are, what they stand for, and what they want to potentially do when in power.

To kick this off the former Minnesota governor Tim Walz funnily enough is not Governor of the state in which he was born West Point Nebraska, but rather Governing Minnesota then his home State of Nebraska to a military family. He grew up on a farm and attended a small high school, where his father’s battle with lung cancer profoundly impacted him. Walz enlisted in the National Guard and attended the University of Houston and Chadron State College. Walz started his career as a teacher in Guandong, China, before returning to Minnesota, where he became a high school social studies teacher and football coach.

In 1999, at Mankato High School, Tim Walz became a beloved Social Studies teacher forming the high school Gay-Straight Alliance Club at a time when being Gay was less accepted socially and being a beloved high school teacher at the same time while donating his time as head football coach then deciding to run for Congress as a Democrat. Walz defeated Republican Gil Gutknecht in 2006, serving on the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Transportation Committees. His policy achievements included supporting Medicare drug price negotiations, raising the minimum wage, and funding stem cell research. He opposed the Iraq War initially but later voted to fund troop deployments, believing it would save lives. In 2019, Walz was elected governor of Minnesota. During his term, he expanded the education budget by $2.3 billion, provided free meals for students, enshrined abortion rights, banned conversion therapy, and introduced gun control measures like background checks. His progressive policies earned him a spot as Kamala Harris’s running mate for the 2024 election.

This leads us to our second potential Vice-Presidential candidate the Senator from Ohio, J.D. Vance, Vance grew up in Middletown, Ohio to Beverly Vance, his mother, who he had a deeply dysfunctional relationship due to his mother’s opioid addiction. He joined the military after high school, serving as a journalist in Iraq. Afterwards, he earned degrees in Political Science and Philosophy from Ohio University and a law degree from Yale. Vance worked for Senator John Cornyn and later became a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. In 2016, he published “Hillbilly Elegy”, a memoir about his upbringing. Initially a critic of Donald Trump, Vance later aligned with him, winning a Senate seat in 2022.

As a senator, Vance co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to lower insulin prices and regulate executive pay in failing banks. However, he also co-sponsored a bill with Marjorie Taylor Greene to criminalize gender-affirming care for minors, which did not pass. Vance’s platform opposes abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and gun control, and he advocates for a national “De-Woke-ification” program. In 2024, Vance joined Donald Trump as his vice-presidential candidate, marking a dramatic shift from his previous anti-Trump rhetoric. The debate on October 3, 2024, Walz and Vance participated in the only vice-presidential debate. It was unusually civil, with both candidates gaining favorability among voters. Polls showed 42% thought Vance won, while 41% believed Walz emerged victorious. Both candidates addressed critical issues, such as the Middle East conflict and the 2020 election. Walz defended U.S. support for Israel, while Vance avoided directly answering whether Trump lost the 2020 election, focusing on future policy instead.

J.D. Vance and Tim Walz held the first and only vice presidential debate. This debate was considered by many of the 44 million viewers who tuned in to watch the contest to be considered abnormally normal and good-spirited. The contest was positive for both candidates as Vance rose from being -28 points unfavored to -3 unfavored doing considerably well, While Tim Walz rose from +32 points to +42 points. The debate began with both candidates taking centre stage and exchanging friendly remarks towards each other with moderator Margaret McBrennan asking, “Let’s get started. Tonight, our country is facing several unfolding crises. The Middle East is on the brink of war. Americans are suffering from the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Helene and now a labor strike as 25,000 dock workers from Maine to Texas are picketing. We’re going to begin tonight with the Middle East.”

The question about the Middle East concerned Iran launching the largest attack on Israel to date, failing due to Joint U.S. military personnel and assets over the region in a U.S. attempt to prevent all-out Middle Eastern wars. Tim Walz was given the initial two minutes to respond to the prefaced question “Iran, or, Israel’s ability to be able to defend itself is fundamental, getting its hostages back, fundamental, and ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” The idea that the backing of Israel on a global stage still makes sense to me as a nation with the 26 billion dollars that are being sent in my opinion is hurting the campaign to still back an Israeli government that is deeply unpopular.

To date, President Biden behind closed doors has acknowledged how the Israel Government is attempting to delay the potential ceasefire deal striking Hamas and Hezbollah targets all while leveling Gaza and killing 41,178 Palestinians which grows more and more by the day. Walz gave a political response to the question throughout the night.

Both of these men, I feel, have differing views from their campaigns some more extreme while some more center to their respective Campaigns. When Tim Walz was asked about January Sixth and whether Donald Trump won the 2020 Election Trump claimed voter fraud stating the election was rigged. J.D. Vance gave a political answer when asked about January 6th and claims that Donald Trump is a threat to Democracy Vance said this: “Gov. Walz: Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election? Vance: I’m focused on the future Walz: That is a damning non-answer”. To summarize, both of these men had multiple blunders that hurt their chances of winning the debate, but both accomplished what I believe is the goal of any Vice Presidential debate, not to hurt the campaign, as long as the VPs do not crash and burn the Campaign will be fine the only thing a Vice Presidential Debate has done historically is hurt candidates, never help unlike the presidential Debate which has been seen to give small short term bursts of overall support.

Unlike all of the debate woes, both of these candidates have suffered the two potential Vice-Presidents were unusually friendly with each other. This is different from previous presidential debates since around 2016 debates have been WWE Heavyweight Showdowns that pull 100’s of millions of viewers for a battle in the marketplace of Ideas. The men even agreed with each other on multiple occasions one that comes to mind is on gun control and school shootings specifically when Tim Walz mentioned his son Gus Walz being exposed to a shooting, (JD Vance) “Tim, first of all, I didn’t know that your 17 year old witnessed the shooting.” And I’m sorry about that. And I hope, (Tim Walz): “I appreciate that.” (JD Vance): “Christ, have mercy. It is awful. And I appreciate what Tim said, actually” I was able to fact-check the claim about Gus Walz being exposed to a shooting which is linked here.

So, now that we know a little bit about these candidates, who would be the best Vice Presidential pick? In my opinion, it would be Tim Walz and it is honestly not even close in my opinion. Tim Walz has a proven track record of policies such as raising the minimum wage in Minnesota, advancing the education budget, and enhancing social safety net systems. Walz champions LGBTQ+ rights protecting women’s rights, and banning conversion therapy all with a one-seat majority. Honestly, all of Tim Walz’s accomplishments cannot be spoken about in this article without being 20 pages long in depth so please check here and here.

While JD Vance runs on a campaign of lies back peddling statements previously made about Donald Trump wanting to take away females’ rights to bodily autonomy. JD Vance is a fake populist. Simply how can a man call a politician America’s Hitler and only a short few years later be running on the very same ticket with that man? JD Vance has famously said that anyone who does not have a child should not have the rights to vote as they are not invested in the future of this country. When the tragic Appalachia shooting happened JD Vance claimed school shootings are just a “fact of life” which is honestly disgusting then suggesting arming teachers as a legitimate option to limit school shootings. But to summarize Tim Walz is the right choice not only for the left but the right as well and is one of the only politicians with a proven track record of accomplishments over decades, all while not taking corporate campaign contributions to running grassroots campaigns.

All I have to say is this: