2024 election live updates: J.D. Vance and Tim Walz prepare for the vice presidential debate in New York

Tim Walz took a break from his debate prep on Sunday to visit a local farm’s pumpkin patch, telling reporters it “went great.”

But behind the scenes, he is said to be worried about Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate.

Walz and his team are holed up in Northern Michigan and preparing for the event at a spot they’ve dubbed “Camp North Star.”

The camp’s name is about Walz “staying true to who he is, and not turning him into a slick debater like” Republican JD Vance, a source familiar with the preparations told DailyMail.com.

Republican J.D. Vance and Democrat Tim Walz will meet Tuesday in their only vice-presidential debate of the 2024 election, and both have a point to prove: that they’re not completely weird.

Walz may have first used the term to write off the entire Republican ticket, but a JL Partners/DailyMail.com poll of voters shows he also has work to do.

When a thousand likely voters were asked earlier this month who was the weirder of the two candidates, about 40 percent chose 40-year-old Senator Vance.

More than a third, 35 percent, nominated Walz, the 60-year-old governor of Minnesota.

But in an election that will go down to the wire, decided by the narrowest of margins, there are signs that there is everything to play for when the two running mates take the stage in New York on Tuesday night.

Time is running out in the 2024 campaign.

The major debates in which Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy tried to pick pieces out seem like a lifetime ago.

Even President Joe Biden’s monumental decision to drop out of the race is slowly becoming a distant memory.

Now it’s October, and this time next month we’re just five days away from what could be one of the closest elections in history.

With 34 days to go, there is no clear favorite between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Polls show the candidates are nearly tied in swing states, and each campaign is looking for a breakthrough to try to move the needle.

Voters are now gearing up for a surprise in October that could upend an already unprecedented election.

Iran will face “serious consequences” if it attacks Israel, the US has warned, as thousands of American troops have been sent to the region amid fears that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon could escalate into an all-out regional war.

US fighter squadrons are being deployed, including F-15E and F-16s – fighter jets that played a key role in shooting down Iranian drones when Tehran launched a missile and drone attack on Israel in April.

F-22 fighter jets and A-10 fighter jets are also being sent, while the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is already positioned in the Gulf of Oman, while the USS Harry S Truman is underway as part of a planned deployment.

Another “few thousand” US troops are being moved to the region, the Pentagon said last night, to boost security for the 40,000 already stationed at bases in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.

The Biden administration hopes to prevent the situation from spiraling into a broader war that could potentially draw in American troops, and has urged Israel to keep its incursion limited in scope.

For decades, Democrats have enjoyed broad support from the Latino population, but a new NBC/Telemundo poll shows a dip in support for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Support for Harris is at 54 percent, according to the poll, while former President Donald Trump has 40 percent. Six percent said they were unsure who they wanted to be president or whether they would not vote.

Although Harris has a healthy fourteen-point lead among Latinos, this is much lower than previous Democratic presidential candidates.

President Joe Biden had a 36-point lead over Latinos in 2020 and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a healthy 50-point lead over Trump. Former President Barack Obama led by 39 points over his Republican opponent, former Governor Mitt Romney.

Trump scores higher than Harris on the economy, dealing with inflation and the cost of living, security at the border and controlling immigration.

In a notable moment during the Democratic National Convention in August, sixteen former members of the Mankato West High School football team took the stage in tribute to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Finally, Vice President Kamala Harris told the cheering crowd that he was their “coach.”

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota went even further, stating, “In Minnesota, we trust a coach who turned a team that was 0-27 into state champions.”

The Americans watching might have gotten the distinct impression that Walz was the man behind the team’s underdog triumph.

In fact, the head coach of the all-conquering team known as the ‘Scarlets’ was a man named Rick Sutton.

Walz, a social studies teacher by day, was just one of several assistant coaches under Sutton, working primarily with the defensive players.

For his part, Sutton has expressed no ill will for Walz to get the nod on the national stage. But he also left no doubt about who was really in charge.

“Tim was very good at selling his position and accepting a different direction,” Sutton said in August. “But at some point someone has to make that decision, and that’s going to be the head coach.”