Ohio Senator JD Vance did exactly what he had to do during the vice-presidential debate with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Vance was outstanding. He adroitly handled the questions and issues in a way that clearly informed America why they should support a Trump-Vance ticket for the White House come November.
Vance's answers on women's issues and former President Donald Trump's recent announcement that he would veto any national ban on abortion rights, both should shore up pivotal support from women.
And Walz - Vice President Kamala Harris's first major decision as a candidate for president - imploded on the stage. Even the liberal media spin doctors could not resuscitate him. He proved that he was not ready for prime time. Not having prime time moments is fine with Walz and Harris as they both have been doing their best to avoid the media - by not doing interviews - like Superman avoids kryptonite.
The Biden-Harris administration continues to manifest its incompetence on foreign affairs in two parts of the globe. We have two wars that the U.S. is funding to the tune of hundreds of billion dollars (that we have to borrow and add to our over $35 trillion national debt). Each war could very well unleash weapons of mass destruction, which have not been used in nearly 80 years, since World War II.
Russia has repeatedly threatened to use these weapons if its interior, especially Moscow, is bombed by Ukraine with U.S.-made long-range missiles. And the ever-expanding war in the Middle East which now includes Lebanon and Iran could force such a result as Israel retaliates for the October 7 senseless killings, kidnappings and attack on innocent Israeli civilians. President Joe Biden's attempts to lead on either have failed. Clearly when America's president shows little strength there is no peace.
Would Harris do better than Biden here? Doubtful. With Trump however, we had no wars in four years, proving peace is ensured through strength.
We faced and continue to be under a potentially debilitating labor strike at our East Coast ports, something not seen in 50 years. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail on both sides preventing an abrupt halt to the flow of goods in America which could cause price spikes. The "self-proclaimed" most pro-union president and Harris hopefully will engage and not sit on the sidelines as observers.
Harris, the so-called Border Czar, recently made her first trip to the U.S.-Mexican border since 2021. Under the Biden-Harris administration, millions of illegals have entered America - among them thousands are criminals. She has no record of achievement on this issue, and is failing miserably.
Could it be that the liberal media has accepted that Harris-Walz will lose in November, unless Trump stumbles? Why do I say that? Because they are recycling their old attack tactics. We are back to talking about the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 and the court cases. These re-runs have played themselves out - old news. What is new is the Justice Department's apparent waiving of the "60 days before an election informal rule" on pursuing court issues due to their possible effects on an election.
Where is Harris-Walz? Both have proven they are out of their element. For Harris, citing her California Attorney General achievements is like a doctor boasting about performing teeth extractions before attempting to perform heart surgery. Ah...not good. That is not the "same kind of experience." Dentists and heart surgeons are different, though both are doctors. An Attorney general's experience is not relevant to legislative and governing experience.
Walz's look of panic over questions he should have expected made me cringe for the man, who is a gentleman.
Both Harris and Walz remind me of unprepared or overwhelmed students. I was happy to be in classes where the teachers gave quizzes, even surprise quizzes. Why? Because it made the final exam a lot easier. You were better prepared for it.
Harris and Walz have avoided "quizzes" - interviews with major news journalists or news conferences with the national press corp. And when tested, it has proven to be a challenge and an unpleasant experience. It is a bit too late to make a second first impression. America knows that they are fantastic teleprompter candidates and that they can read the prepared remarks well, unlike President Joe Biden.
History and tradition give us interesting evaluations.
In the last nearly 125 years of our republic, America has never gone two terms with a president and vice president both from non-elite colleges.
The Harris-Walz tandem marks the third time in about 125 years (Biden-Harris was the last time and Johnson-Humphrey preceded it) when the top of the ticket did not have a person who graduated from an elite college or university, defined as among the most selective and world-renown colleges and universities.
A Democratic victory in November would mark the beginning of the longest period the nation has seen with both the president and the vice president not having these outstanding "credentials."
Here is the record over the last 125 years for president and vice president: Yale six, Harvard six, and the others have one each - Princeton, Penn, Dartmouth, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Amherst, the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis). And a lady from Wellesley College did win the popular vote. That's it. And for the record, Trump went to Penn (Wharton School of Business) and Vance went to Yale (Law School).
Going to an elite school only means that you were thought of as being one of the brightest students; it does not necessarily mean anything else. But traditionally the record would show, Americans have sought the best and brightest to lead our country.