The calm before the storm? The vice presidential debate was a snoozer for some, but the body language on display was fascinating—and reveals just how close this race is, according to one expert.
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00:00The calm before the storm?
00:02The vice presidential debate was a snoozer for some, but the body language on display
00:06was fascinating and reveals just how close this race is, according to one expert.
00:11The two 2024 presidential debates — Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden, then Trump vs. Kamala
00:17Harris — were politically momentous.
00:20We finally beat Medicare.
00:23Thank you, President Biden.
00:24Biden's performance was so disastrous that senior Democrats began to call for him to
00:28drop out of the race amid dire approval ratings, and he finally did on July 21st.
00:34Vice President Harris emerged as the replacement Democratic nominee and enjoyed a bump in the
00:38polls that closed the gap between her and her opponent.
00:42The first — and maybe final — presidential debate between Harris and Trump took place
00:46on September 10th.
00:47In the days that followed, opinion polls showed Harris had gained a narrow lead over Trump.
00:52Today, the race for the Oval Office is neck and neck, with both Democrats and Republicans
00:56looking to score decisive wins to help move the needle in their favor.
01:00On October 1st, all eyes were on the vice presidential debate between Trump's running
01:05mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, and Harris' pick, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
01:10However, the event was underwhelming to many.
01:13One Guardian columnist called it,
01:15"...a mostly civil encounter with no overwhelming winner."
01:18In the absence of killer lines, both social media users and analysts dug deeper to see
01:23what the body language of the two men had to say about the balance of power.
01:27And according to most, Vance had the better night.
01:29Tim Walz entered the vice presidential race at a moment of great excitement for the Democrats.
01:34People were relieved at the emergence of a presidential candidate who seemed to have
01:38a chance of beating Donald Trump and taking the Oval Office.
01:41And Walz seemed to relish the opportunity to take on Vance.
01:44"...I can't wait to debate the guy."
01:50But after being chosen as Harris' running mate, Walz reportedly admitted to the vice
01:54president that he was poor at debates.
01:56And by the time of the vice presidential debate on October 1st, many took to social media
02:00to note that his former confidence appeared to have deserted him.
02:04In a piece for The Conversation, body language expert Patrick Stewart said Walz attempted
02:09to settle his nerves with a so-called reward smile, which regulates negative emotions.
02:14But the governor nevertheless seemed unnerved by an opening question about war in the Middle
02:18East.
02:20"...Iran, or Israel's ability to be able to defend itself is absolutely fundamental."
02:25Arguably, in one instance, Walz came across as dishonest.
02:29When pressed on a false claim he had made about being in Hong Kong in 1989 during the
02:33Tiananmen Square protests, he blushed visibly as he admitted that he misspoke.
02:38"...I got there that summer and misspoke on this, so I will just, that's what I've said."
02:43However, Stewart noted that though Walz may have been caught bending the truth, blushing
02:49involuntarily may in fact have the effect of making him appear more honest and genuine
02:54to audiences.
02:55Though J.D. Vance has achieved a great deal despite a horrific upbringing and is a popular
02:59running mate among much of Donald Trump's MAGA base, he hasn't had an easy vice presidential
03:04campaign so far.
03:06The attack line put forward by the Democrats — that the Republicans, and Vance in particular,
03:11are weird — has proven to be effective as viral messaging.
03:14His image has also been tarnished by his misstep into writing childless cat ladies.
03:19"...who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made."
03:22Which drew the ire of none other than pop superstar Taylor Swift.
03:26At times, even Republicans have worried that Vance's name on the Trump ticket could do
03:30the campaign more harm than good.
03:32But Vance's performance in the vice presidential debate has drawn a certain amount of praise,
03:36with even the left-leaning Guardian admitting that the Ohioan had taken the upper hand.
03:40Analyst Ben Davis wrote,
03:42"...Vance was nimble, if smarmy, showing his background as a debater and a lawyer."
03:46Davis added that Vance's cool allowed him to promote extremist policies in a way that
03:51made them, quote, "...sound almost moderate and reasonable."
03:54In his conversation piece, Stewart noted that Vance was considerably less expressive and
03:59appeared calm throughout, giving little away in terms of nerves and appearing to be the
04:04more settled of the two men.
04:06Stewart highlighted that the few times Vance was expressive, he was smiling, indicating
04:10that he was pleased with himself for his performance.
04:13However, Stewart also claimed that this lack of expressiveness could prevent voters from
04:17connecting with him as a public figure.