Coach Walz's Knockout Punch Was Worth the Wait

Walz finished the debate with what I thought should have been the moderators' first question for Vance

Photo of Norah O’Donnell public domain via Wikipedia; photo smashup/titling by author

Wait. Didn't I use the knockout metaphor for Kamala's debate performance, too? Ah, well, recycle, I say. It’s good for America.

Anyhoo, my take on the outcome of the debate appears to be a bit different than corporate media's.

Corporate media is the biggest challenge Kamala Harris and Tim Walz face. This truth reared its ugly head in the immediate aftermath of the debate when it fawned over Vance’s greasy talent for lying.

You would have thought, upon reading the various summaries from across the corporate media spectrum, that Vance, a minstrel of lies, had somehow demonstrated he was something more than the slickly packaged version of Trump that he is. That he’s more than a serial liar and right-wing, misogynist, racist provocateur.

This is a man who once called Trump Hitler but dodges questions about his past disdain for Trump with such skill you’d swear that you’ve entered an alternative universe where it never happened.

Walz finished the debate by answering the question that I thought the debate moderators should have asked as the debate’s opening question to Vance.

Here’s what he said at the end of the debate:

When Mike Pence made that decision to certify that election, that’s why Mike Pence isn’t on this stage.

Attention corporate media. If that wasn’t your lead headline this morning, you buried the lede.

Why is the concept of covering the former “president” as the insurrectionist he is such a difficult one for corporate media? Why is it that January 6 isn’t part of every headline?

We all have our theories. I’ve seen many of yours. They all rate.

Walz continued:

What I’m concerned about is where is the firewall with Donald Trump? Where is the firewall? If he knows he could do anything, including taking an election and his vice president’s not gonna stand to it. That’s what we’re asking you, America, will you stand up? Will you keep your oath of office even if the president doesn’t?

But nope. That made no headlines at all.

The corporate media summation was that this debate demonstrated Vance’s sophisticated debate skills. Vance, according to this evaluation, outmatched Walz with his smarmy demeanor.

But I have some news for the news media of America. Americans may have a different take.

Coach Walz was not the slick Hollywood tech bro that Vance was. He was the guy who pulls over and changes your flat tire on a busy highway. He was the cool teacher everyone gravitates to at the end of class.

He was relatable. He was a bit nervous early but rallied. How many of us haven’t experienced something like that?

Vance was the kind of guy that hardcore MAGA cultists claim they want out of politics. He was the slick huckster instead of the kind of carnival barker they approve of.

Corporate media loved every minute of it. The headlines will soon read like this:

“JD Vance may lose this election, but he’s the frontrunner for the 2028 Republican nomination.”

A slicked-up version of Trump. Yay. Just what the country needs, and just what many of us warned was the inevitable succession story to the bumbling, hateful moron who looks and sounds like he’s in his last days.