Voters think JD Vance is more weird than Tim Walz, but only just, as the two VP candidates prepare to debate

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.

About 25 percent of respondents said they simply didn’t know who the weirdest candidate was.

That means everyone gets a chance to speak directly to an audience that might not know much about Vance or Walz.

Our poll also showed Walz ahead of Vance, who has received a series of negative headlines for resurfaced comments about the country being run by “chidless cat ladies” and complaining about how car seat regulations have led to low birth rates led.

Walz starts with a positive rating of plus two (the difference between the percentage of people who approve of him and those who disapprove).

Vance is underwater, with a net favorability of minus six.

However, the Ohio senator has actually seen his rating improve over the past month (from minus eight), while Walz has trended in the wrong direction (from plus four).

The matchup, hosted by CBS News, may not have the same stakes as last month’s Trump-Harris showdown, but sparks could still fly.

Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz meet Tuesday in their only vice presidential debate of the 2024 election, and both have a point to prove

Vance has mocked Walz’s military record, while Walz goes after Vance’s opposition to abortion and his focus on couples having children.

But each man’s key role will be to act as defenders or attack dogs for the candidate at the top of the ticket.

He used to mean a lot of heat, but not a lot of light.

This could be different, according to James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners.

“Normally vice-presidential debates don’t matter, but the margins are so small that a stellar performance by one of the other candidates could win over some undecideds, at least in theory,” he said.

“For example, one decisive voter I spoke to in Pennsylvania was waiting for this debate to make a decision.”

Johnson said both candidates were less known to the public than Trump and Harris, meaning there might be more room for substance.

“I expect this to be a debate where afterwards we spend more time talking about the issues than the personalities,” he said.

The two can also be relied upon to talk about their roots in Central America. Both won their spots on their tickets with something of a one-size-fits-all appeal: Vance as the son of a mother depressed by the country’s opioid epidemic and Walz with what supporters see as his “normal dad” and “Minnesota nice vibe ‘.