Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz will meet Tuesday in their first, and possibly only, vice presidential debate before the November general election.
The debate will air at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday. CBS will produce the debate and use its anchors Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan as moderators.
How can I watch the debate?
Scripps News will air CBS’ simulcast of the debate live on-air and online. To find Scripps News on air or watch on Scripps News' website, click here.
Who will participate?
Walz and Vance were the only two candidates invited. Independent candidates, such as Jill Stein’s running mate Butch Ware, did not meet the criteria for an invitation.
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Debate rules
According to CBS, moderators “reserves the right” to mute the candidates' microphones during the debate when it is not their turn to speak. CBS also said that there will be two four-minute commercial breaks during the 90-minute debate, but campaign staff will not be allowed to interact with candidates during these intermissions.
Candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water, but they are not allowed to bring any prewritten notes or props with them to the stage, organizers said.
The candidates selected certain aspects of the debate based on a coin flip: Vance chose to give his closing statement last, and Walz chose to stand at the leftmost podium on screen during the broadcast.
Each candidate will get two minutes to answer questions, two minutes to deliver rebuttals, and one minute for responses or follow-ups as granted.
Closing statements will run for two minutes per candidate and there will be no opening statements.
What's different about debates this year?
The 2024 election marks the first time leading candidates are debating outside the auspices of the Commission on Presidential Debates. Before dropping out of the race, President Joe Biden's campaign criticized the debate-organizing nonprofit for its format. Former President Donald Trump's campaign has also echoed many of the same complaints.
Instead, President Biden and Trump formalized agreements with CNN, ABC and CBS allowing them to organize and simulcast two presidential debates and a vice presidential debate. After Biden dropped out of the race, Vice President Kamala Harris decided to keep the ABC News debate on the schedule.
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But the debate between Vance and Harris’ running mate remained in limbo. It was later decided that Vance and Walz would still meet on CBS, this time on Oct. 1 instead of in August.
Another big departure from debates in prior years: No audience. In the past, presidential debates had an audience, but that will not be the case on Tuesday.
State of the race
Most recent national polls show Harris up slightly in the popular vote, but an extremely tight race in seven battleground states. Those polls show essentially a deadlocked Electoral College count.
The election will be decided by which candidate has the best performances in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These are the states where polling has not shown a consistent leader.
Economy top issue on voters' minds
Polling conducted by Ipsos shows that the economy and inflation are at the top of mind for voters. Issues like crime and safety, health care and protecting democracy rank below economic concerns.