Vice-presidential debate between Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz on October 1st felt like a civil and relatively restrained conversation about the issues at the top of American voters’ minds going into the November 5th election.

In that, it was unlike the two presidential debates earlier this year.

The two men spent much more time attacking the other’s running mate than each other during 90-plus minutes on the CBS News stage in New York.

Tim Walz had a shaky start but hit his stride when talking about abortion and the Capitol riot.

But the even-tempered, policy-focused debate, with few political body blows, probably served JD Vance – a polished public speaker – best in the end.

If JD Vance was picked because he puts ideological meat on the bones of Donald Trump’s conservative populism, on Tuesday night he put a polite, humble face on them, as well.

“Something these guys do is they make a lot of claims about if Donald Trump becomes president, all of these terrible consequences are going to ensue,” he said.

“But in reality, Donald Trump was president. Inflation was low. Take-home pay was higher.”

Image source: CBS News

There were moments when the Republican candidate bristled at what he thought was unfair fact-checking from the two CBS moderators, and at one point microphones of both candidates were temporarily muted.

But for the most part, the exchanges on stage were even-tempered.

And there were several moments when the two men agreed on issues – and said so.

The most vigorous disagreements came toward the end of the debate, on the topic of Donald JD Trump’s repeated and false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Vance, when asked if Donald Trump lost the last presidential election, dodged the question and criticised what he said was Kamala Harris’s censorship.

Tim Walz quickly noted that it was a “damning non-answer”.

“To deny what happened on January 6, the first time an American president or anyone tried to overturn an election, this has got to stop,” he said.

“It’s tearing our country apart.”

Tim Walz went on to say that the only reason Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s previous vice-president, was not on stage was because he certified President Joe Biden’s victory.

JD Vance had no answer to that, highlighting that beyond his friendly demeanour and agreeability, he would not break from Trump’s position.

JD Vance and Tim Walz entered this debate with different skill sets. Vance has sparred with journalists on television in heated exchanges. Walz is at home on the campaign stump, using his folksy style in contrast to more polished politicians.

In the early part of this debate, with both candidates standing behind podiums in a New York City television studio, JD Vance seemed much more comfortable. His answers were smooth, and relentlessly on-message, constantly reminding the audience that for all of Vice-President Harris’s promises, Democrats have held the White House for the past three and a half years.

Tim Walz, for his part, seemed halting and unsure on the opening topic, dealing with October 1st Iranian missile attack on Israel and if the candidates would support an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran. The Minnesota governor rarely talks about foreign policy, and his discomfort on the subject was apparent.