The top two Texas leaders contended that JD Vance scored a decisive victory over Tim Walz at the vice-presidential debate on Tuesday night in social media posts that both appeared to have composed in advance and had ready to go immediately after the event ended.
Governor Greg Abbott beat Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick to the punch with a glowing review of Vance's performance at 9:49 p.m. Patrick, who serves as Donald Trump's state campaign chairman, took the time to put more thought into his assessment of the rhetorical duel between the VP nominees. Patrick waited until 10:11 p.m. to post the praise for Walz complete with a personal insult for the candidate on the Democratic ticket with Kamala Harris.
The microwave analyses from Abbott and Patrick couldn't have been more predictable and biased as could be expected from partisan politicians who specialize in spin.
"@JDVance is the CLEAR winner of tonight’s debate," Abbott declared on X. "Kamala Harris picked the most liberal running mate she could in Tim Walz. It’s the most dangerous ticket in our nation’s history.
If you think 4 years of Harris-Biden was bad, that's nothing compared to 4 years of Harris-Walz."
Patrick could have been describing the Trump running mate when he sought to sully Walz in his own critique on X.
"@JDVance delivered big time tonight and clearly won the debate," Patrick asserted. "He came across as smart and knowledgeable on the issues. Tim Walz came across as a knucklehead (his words) dancing around question after question, clearly unsure of himself."
Neither Patrick or Abbott mentioned that Vance was the guilty party when it came to dodging the question in a scene that was clearly the highlight of the VP debate. Vance reacted sheepishly to a question on whether he believed Trump really lost the 2020 election when the U.S. senator from Ohio refused to answer it. Vance launched into claims about censorship by the Democrats instead.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz apparently decided to sleep on it before serving up a post on X with a video that analyzed the debate in more detail than Abbott or Patrick. "VP Debate Night: Kamala Loses as her Record was Exposed," Cruz said on X at 8:33 a.m. today.
Independent polling immediately after the debate showed there to be no clear winner even though Vance had a slight edge in some. A CNN instant poll that SSRS conducted found that 51 percent said Vance won compared to 49 percent for Walz.
CBS News, which moderate the debate, found its own instant poll that 42 percent said Vance prevailed while 41 percent gave the nod to Walz. The Guardian characterized the debate as "a civil encounter with no overwhelming winner."
The Washington Post said that Vance "probably" won the debate but that Walz may have more to gain from the event. The Fox affiliate in San Francisco found that 51 percent said Vance fared best compared to 49 percent who thought Walz was the more admirable performer.
But Fox News found solace for Republicans who rely on multiple news sources with a story on how conservative social media sites declared the debate to be a blowout for Vance. One even called it a massacre.
