Slugfest Without Slugging

Today’s notice: Vance and Walz duked it out, gently. Republicans got bullish on Israel. And Kevin McCarthy goes full “Karma.”

The De-Weirding of JD Vance

Tim Walz got his VP nom gig in part by giving Democrats one word to define the Donald Trump-JD Vance ticket: weird. On Tuesday night, he used two words that seem to fly in the face of that take: “We agree.”

Vance, whose extreme positions and rhetoric have ricocheted through the political ether since his nomination as VP — and dragged down his numbers through the cycle — started things off trying to reintroduce himself with his “Hillbilly Elegy” narrative. I’m not that guy you’ve heard about, he seemed to say. I’m normal.

Walz didn’t really stop that train from leaving the station and making multiple stops. For sure, there were sharply different views over immigration (Walz called Vance out for blaming migrants for home prices), abortion rights (albeit through an uncomfortable game of which man onstage could point to more women he could speak for), gun violence and Jan. 6, where Walz seemed amazed that Vance would not say Trump lost the 2020 election.

But for the most part, Vance’s efforts to recast himself were let be, both by Walz and by moderators, who didn’t ask any questions about “crazy cat ladies.”

Some Democrats saw strategy. “Not a lot of fireworks here,” Democratic strategist Rebecca Pearcey texted my colleagues, “but I don’t know that I expected any.”

But not all. One Democrat close to the vice president who NOTUS spoke with during the debate offered a sigh of relief during the Jan. 6 back-and-forth. “This was a good answer, finally,” the Democrat told NOTUS’ Jasmine Wright.

The Vance team took a not entirely on-message victory lap, given the agreeable, bipartisan moderate their boss spent an entire debate trying to project. “If murdering someone on national TV is humanizing, sure, JD humanized himself tonight,” a person close to Vance told NOTUS’ Reese Gorman.

—Evan McMorris-Santoro | Read the NOTUS debate recap here.

Hill Republicans Go Farther Than Vance on Iran

The debate took place hours after Iranian missile strikes on Israel, which followed military strikes by that country on Iranian allies. Vance, echoing Trump, attacked Kamala Harris for the Iran deal that Trump tore up. But there was no talk of new American military action.

Not true in Congress, where classic hawks like Lindsey Graham called for American-led strikes on Iranian industrial capacity.

“It’s time to start playing hardball,” Rep. Tim Burchett posted.

Read more from NOTUS’ John T. Seward here.

Front Page

• Trump Takes the VP Debate Strategy Into His Own Social Media-Loving Hands: The former president had a … different approach.
• What Is an Abortion ‘Ban’? In One House Race, It Matters: A Republican candidate said a 20-week abortion ban is not a “ban.”
• Trump’s Team Is Trying to Stop the Release of Jack Smith’s Election Fraud Report: Time to avoid an October Surprise.

Quotable

“Several members have had to increase their security. Staff have had to take additional precautions in their districts and D.C. offices. There are members and staff that represent very diverse backgrounds who have to go to work every day and deal with this crap.”

That’s the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Steven Horsford, talking about the safety measures Black lawmakers are taking after Rep. Clay Higgins’ racist post last week.

—Tinashe Chingarande | Read the story here.

An Exclusive Number You Should Know

$14 million

Kevin McCarthy is marking the one-year anniversary of his unceremonious ouster by dropping an eye-popping sum from America Fund — a super PAC he backs — to support Trump and GOP candidates down ballot, NOTUS’ Reese Gorman reports. McCarthy, known as a prolific fundraiser, made a well-timed donation to give the House GOP a taste of what they’re missing as Republicans trail Democratic fundraising.

Not Us

We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by … not us.

• A tiny town slammed by Hurricane Helene could massively disrupt the tech industry, according to NPR.
• Procedures associated with missed student loan payments were temporarily paused. Now they’re back, and borrowers could face hefty penalties, The American Prospect finds.
• Financial Times says Lebanon’s broken state is struggling with more than 1 million people displaced.
• Democratic donors are propping up far-right candidates, including a gun activist in Wisconsin’s Senate race. More on the AP.

Be Social

Jimmy Carter has lived through 17 presidencies. It also turns out he’s the most frequently name-checked president on “The Simpsons.”

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