Vice Presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance will not be bringing the fireworks that Kamala Harris’ encounter with Donald Trump did this past summer, but historically, Vice Presidential debates have generated some of the best, most memorable moments in political history.
These debates are arguably more confrontational and sensationalized, and sometimes even more captivating to watch. There is an element of surprise in the dynamic between lesser-known candidates that can overshadow what is happening at the top of the ticket.
“Who am I? Why am I here?,” said late Rear Admiral James Stockdale in 1992.
At a GOP vice-presidential candidate debate in 2008 with Joe Biden, Sarah Palin asked him on stage: “Can I call you Joe? Joe,” Biden said with a smile. It was an image even Biden leaned into in his 2012 debate with Paul Ryan, responding to one of Ryan’s comments with a line he’s still known for today: “With all due respect, that’s a bunch of malarkey.”
“I’m not a politician. Everybody knows that. So don’t expect me to use the language of the Washington insider,” said Stockdale between Senator Al Gore (D-TN) and Vice President Dan Quayle.
In hindsight, a few of the most consequential lines in political debate history have originated from these debates. For example, when Dan Quayle went up against Lloyd Bentsen in 1988, he tried to invoke the memory of President John F. Kennedy suggested his experience was more relevant than many thought it was.
Who knows whether Walz and Vance will provide those moments, but as past debates have illustrated, the undercard bout sometimes is where the real action happens.
