Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate between U.S. Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was a 90-minute bout between the running mates of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The policy-filled debate, hosted by CBS News in New York City, NY, was moderated by Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan — both of which questioned the two candidates on various topics such as the rising inflation, health care and immigration.
O’Donnell and Brennan enforced a strict minute restriction for each question and rebuttal, muting the microphones of either candidate at their discretion. Still, Athens residents were seemingly surprised at the mutual respect between Vance and Walz — noting a welcomed change from the often heated rhetoric of recent political discourse.
“I watched it, and it was actually pretty entertaining,” Athens native Jason Ferguson told The News Courier Wednesday, Oct. 2. “I was already going to vote in November, but it was still useful to watch.”
Ferguson’s sentiments offered a different tone to other locals who were asked to comment on the vice presidential debate. More than a dozen Athens residents, such as Arlis Dudley, said they had not watched the latest debate because of a lack of interest.
“I watched the previous presidential debates, but I just didn’t feel like watching last night,” Dudley said. “I don’t really like to watch them anyways, because it seems like they fib a lot. Of course, that’s all politicians for you. Not a problem on my part if I don’t pay attention to them.”
The official viewership numbers from the Nielsen Media Research Group’s fast national ratings data had yet to be released by press time, but the vice presidential debate numbers have always fallen short compared to the presidential debate numbers.
According to the Nielsen Media Research Group, ABC’s Sept. 10 debate drew in a record 67.1 million viewers across 16 stations. Still, Athens residents such as Tary Stan echoed Dudley’s sentiments about not watching the debate.
“To be honest, I don’t keep up with any of it,” Stan said. “I’m not even registered to vote, so it doesn’t bother me much. I do think the state of politics has not been good here recently.”
Despite such comments about the current political climate, respect between the two candidates Tuesday was evident in the debates’ final moments.
After the closing statements from Vance and Walz, both candidates took the time to shake hands and talk with each other — introducing each other to their spouses before going to shake the hands of the two moderators on the night.
For Ferguson, he said the debate highlighted the importance of why viewers should watch and learn as much as they can before they vote.
“You can have sides, everybody has sides,” Ferguson said. “The thing is, everybody tells you to pick their side. To me, that’s not the right way to go about things. You should pick what you believe in, and in order to believe in something you have to do your research.”