good morning It was on September 28. Here’s what happened in my opinion.
Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz faced each other Tuesday in the only vice presidential debate, and here’s the good news: Both candidates are well-organized adults not easily baited into strange, winding, grievance-laden tangents. So if you’re looking for an evening of potential meltdowns and TikTok-ready zingers, prepare to be disappointed.
I say that based not only on the absence of Donald Trump, but also watching past debates from Vance’s 2022 successful campaign for US senator from Ohio and Walz’s 2018 and 2022 run for governor of Minnesota. Both are capable debaters — not on the level of Kamala Harris, but both can articulate policy and get their point across in a way that Harris’s opponents can’t.
That said – and based purely on political expediency and ability, and has nothing to do with the honesty or correctness of that position – Vance has the edge. He was fluent in policy, and quick to respond to attacks, both of which were very weak points for his leaders. In the 2022 Ohio Senate debate I watched between Vance and then-Rep. Tim Ryan, he just used every question from the moderator as an opportunity to paint Ryan as a chicken and a hypocrite. When Ryan attacked Vance for his work as a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, Vance put Ryan on his heels by asking what exactly of his own investments Ryan found objectionable. The response was some gibberish about China.
Back then Vance wasn’t nearly as well known as he is now – and by known, he meant disliked. Vance in 2024 is the most unpopular vice presidential candidate in history, a flaw that only highlights Walz’s best attribute: A man like a man.
This happened during a debate with Republican Jeff Johnson in 2018 and Republican Scott Jensen in 2022, both races for governor of Minnesota. In both debates, opponents attacked the way Vance did when he debated Ryan — but with Walz, no one bothered him. And Walz was really attacked, probably because he was the favorite in both races. In 2022, when the moderator asked the candidates to compliment each other, all Jensen could say was that Walz “had a beautiful smile.” Unfazed by his obvious views, Walz praised his opponent for the way he spoke about his family. He answered questions about policy on climate change, mineral extraction, working with the federal government and the pandemic response directly but not in detail, which Jensen and Johnson attacked Walz.
And Walz never took the bait. A nice guy that people liked could do it, and perhaps that was Walz’s greatest advantage over the unpopular, but policy-brief Vance. We’ll see on Tuesday.
The reclassification of marijuana as a Schedule III drug only made things worse. Efforts to prevent overdoses show signs of success. The Biden administration hopes to build on that by federally reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I substance (along with heroin) to a Schedule III (along with anabolic steroids). This may seem appropriate, but keeping marijuana in the same regulatory framework as pharmaceuticals can lead to disaster, said Leo Beletsky, Shaleen Title and Shanel Lindsay.
Everyone who grasps the risk of nuclear war says Trump can’t be trusted. Back in the 1940s, US policy on the use of nuclear weapons was this: Only the president could order a strike, and when the president gave the order, the strike had to be carried out no matter what. It doesn’t matter if the person in the job is inappropriate and reckless, because Donald Trump is in office for the first time. Author Jill Lawrence says this is another reason former presidents shouldn’t be the next president.
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Imperial County residents deserve to benefit from the potential of the lithium boom. One of California’s most economically distressed counties happens to have enough lithium to make 400 million batteries and power the entire US auto industry. Manuel Pastor and Chris Benner said that local residents are not wary of the mining bonanza: “Imperial Valley residents, who have received plans to get rich in water and real estate in the past, are worried that political leaders can give them away from the shops.”
Desperate for good news on climate change? Consider the growth rate of clean energy. To understand climate change, consider Moore’s Law, which states that the density of microchips doubles every two years. “Like computer chips, many other technologies also get exponentially more affordable, although at different rates,” writes J. Doyne Farmer. “Some of the best examples are renewable energy technologies such as solar panels, lithium batteries and wind turbines.”
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