(Editor's Note: The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement for any political party, or candidate, on the part of Newsmax.)
When my wife’s clock radio went off this morning, a CBS News reporter said the most significant thing about last night’s vice-presidential debate between Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn. was that it was cordial.
The reporter also said a post-debate CBS poll found that there was no clear winner.
This was a predictable summary by CBS which heavily slanted the debate against Sen. Vance and former President Donald Trump.
Even though almost all post-debate assessments and polls showed Vance was by far the stronger debater and won the evening, CBS’s laughable self-conducted poll said it was a tie.
Like the last presidential debate, this was another three-against-one debate for a Republican candidate, with the debate moderators slanting their questions and follow-ups heavily in favor of the Democrat.
Although there was not supposed to be "fact checking" by the moderators, they did so, against Vance.
When Vance challenged them, they cut off his microphone.
As a national security expert, I was disappointed that CBS asked very few questions about global events.
Although the debate led off with questions about the recent Iranian missile attack against Israel, the evening was dominated by domestic policy questions that the moderators thought would favor the Harris/Vance ticket like abortion and climate change.
There were no questions about serious global threats, such as the war in Ukraine or the risk of nuclear war.
The moderators asked Walz a pointless question about why he lied about being in Beijing during the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
But they failed to ask more critical China-related questions, such as whether they believe China is an existential threat to U.S. security or how the U.S. should counter the new Russia-China axis that began during the Biden/Harris administration.
Walz attempted to turn the growing instability in the Mideast against Trump by arguing that the former president is a "fickle" leader who favors dictators compared to his ridiculous claim of Vice President Harris’s "steady and calm leadership," who he said "brought coalitions together."
Vance easily countered these attacks by noting that the Iranian missile attack against Israel occurred during the Biden/Harris administration and stressed that Trump delivered global stability during his presidency through effective U.S. deterrence and peace through strength.
To make his point, Vance asked, "When was the last time that an American president did not have a major conflict during his time in office? The only answer is during the four years that Donald Trump was president."
These were powerful arguments by Vance on one of the Biden/Harris administration’s biggest vulnerabilities: the major increase in global instability due to its incompetent national security policies.
CBS realized this, which is why it devoted so little time during the debate to foreign policy.
The moderators asked questions about immigration and border security, although they tried to frame one question against Vance by making it about the forced separation of migrant children from their parents.
Vance did well on this issue, explaining that the surge in illegal immigration has led to a sharp increase in crime and housing shortages and has overwhelmed American schools and hospitals.
Vance made clear that the illegal migrant crisis was caused by the Biden/Harris administration deliberately reversing Trump’s policies that secured the southern border.
Walz struggled to defend the administration’s border and immigration policies.
He made several confused attempts to blame the illegal migrant influx on Trump for opposing a controversial border bill last February that would have done nothing to stop the border crisis.
This bill would have allowed 5,000 aliens per day, or 1.8 million per year, to cross the southern border illegally before a so-called border expulsion authority was triggered.
I doubt Walz’s arguments on immigration and border security convinced many Americans because they know the Biden/Harris administration caused the border crisis and could easily solve it if it wanted to by restoring Trump’s effective border policies, that Biden dismantled during his first few weeks in office.
Vance cleaned up on the economy.
Walz had no answer to the senator’s criticism of the Biden/Harris administration’s "atrocious" economic record, especially on soaring inflation and job losses.
I'm sure most Americans agreed with Vance when he said, "But most importantly, Donald Trump delivered for the American people, rising wages, rising take-home pay, an economy that works for normal Americans."
Vance won the debate because he is a better debater, came off as likable and modest, and was better prepared than Walz.
Vance handled the moderators’ biased and hostile questions well and turned many of them to his advantage.
By contrast, Walz was over-prepared and programmed.
He often looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
But the main reason Sen. Vance won last night’s debate was that he had a powerful message: that Americans believe our country was far better off when Trump was president.
The world was safer and more stable. Our borders were secure. We were energy secure. We had a thriving economy with increased wages and low inflation.
Despite CBS’s efforts to rig the vice-presidential debate against JD Vance to ensure that he lost, Vance’s superior debating skills and his powerful message made him unbeatable.
Fred Fleitz is a Newsmax TV contributor. He previously served as National Security Council chief of staff, CIA analyst, and as a member of the House Intelligence Committee staff. Read more of his reports — Click Here Now.
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