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(Bloomberg) — Republican JD Vance largely succeeded in sanding down his hardline reputation while Democrat Tim Walz’s nerves were on display as the vice presidential candidates battled over immigration, abortion, and climate change during Tuesday’s debate.

Likely the final major set piece before voters head to the polls, the face-off was a last opportunity for both sides to frame their plans, policies and personalities before Election Day. The bout saw the two Midwesterners seek to maintain a personable veneer and policy focus as they delivered punishing attacks on each others’ running mates. 

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Vance came across as the more technically skilled, self-assured debater, seeming at ease talking about policy while parrying tough questions about his and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s record and past remarks. 

His objective was clear: to address his position as the least likable of the four people on the ticket, according to polls, repeatedly wrapping his jabs on Walz in niceties. He also did his best to define Democratic nominee Kamala Harris as the incumbent candidate, as the Trump campaign continues to struggle to tether her to President Joe Biden’s record. 

Meanwhile, Walz gave meandering and halting answers and occasionally misspoke, including a clip that reverberated through social media in which he inadvertently suggested he had befriended school shooters. 

Still, neither candidate struck a knockout blow. Vance’s performance was not without flaws of its own. The Ohio senator, who desperately needs to reverse his standing with women voters, talked over the two female moderators before CBS cut off his microphone. His refusal to say during an exchange later in the evening whether he believed Trump had lost the 2020 election delivered Democrats a signature moment. 

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The session was far less fiery than the presidential debate in early September, where Kamala Harris baited Donald Trump into delivering answers largely on her terms. Tuesday’s event was a far more respectful exchange of ideas, even as the two men offered starkly different visions for the country.

“My guess is that when voters are asked about this, they are going to say this was more of a draw than we’re depicting it,” former top Obama aide David Axelrod said on CNN, summing up the debate’s potential impact on the election, which is less than 40 days away. 

Vance did his best to cast Harris as the incumbent candidate who did not deserve another four years in office. He repeatedly returned to the theme that Harris should have fixed things already, which Republicans see as one of their most potent attack lines against the Democratic ticket.

“What you won’t hear is that Kamala Harris has already done it because she’s been the vice president for three and a half years. She had the opportunity to enact all of these great policies,” he said.

‘Knucklehead’

Vance leaned on his bio as kid from a working-class neighborhood in Ohio, beset by job losses and the flood of drugs. 

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But when asked about false allegations he made about the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, he refused to back down. Local officials in the town have said claims by Trump and Vance that the Haitans were eating neighbor’s cats and dogs were unfounded.

For his part, Walz tried to play the role of Harris’ happy warrior and potential second-in-command. But that worked less well on the debate stage against a singular opponent than at campaign rallies. He gave a long-winded and awkward answer when one moderator asked him why he falsely claimed to have been in China during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.

“I’ve not been perfect and I’m a knucklehead at times,” he said.

Walz appeared visibly nervous at times, stumbling in particular during responses to tensions in the Middle East. He seemed reluctant to criticize Vance, even saying they both hold similar views on issues like gun control and child care where Democrats traditionally hold an edge with voters.

Walz seemed most animated when he spoke about the way Republicans threatened reproductive rights by appointing justices who overturned the federal right to an abortion.

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“Donald Trump put this all into motion. He bragged about how great it was that he put the judges in and overturned Roe v. Wade,” Walz said.

But Vance’s response – in which he acknowledged the Republican party needs to do more at “earning the American people’s trust back on this issue, where they frankly just don’t trust us” – underscored the extent to which the Ohio Republican, who previously has voiced support for stringent abortion restrictions, was seeking the middle ground.

“I think that’s one of the things that Donald Trump and I are endeavoring to do. I want us as a Republican Party to be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word,” Vance said, expressing support for procedures like fertility treatments but saying abortion should be left up to the states.

Foreign policy

The contest opened with a sharp exchange over Iran after Tehran fired about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday in reprisal for a dramatic series of attacks on Lebanon in recent days and the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. 

“It’s those that were closest to Donald Trump that understand how dangerous he is when the world is this dangerous,” Walz said at the forum hosted by CBS News in New York.

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Vance diverted the conversation to talk about his own biography. But he defended his running mate.

“As much as Governor Walz just accused Donald Trump of being an agent of chaos, Donald Trump actually delivered stability in the world, and he did it by establishing effective deterrence,” Vance said.

Vance attacked Harris on immigration, one of the Democratic presidential nominee’s biggest political vulnerabilities — and argued for Trump’s pledges to finish building the border wall and deport illegal migrants.

Walz accused Republicans of “blaming migrants for everything” and criticized Trump for killing a bipartisan immigration bill that would have brought more resources to handle the border crisis and bolster border security. 

Climate Change

The candidates also debated climate change policies in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which has devastated states across the US southeast.

Vance repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether he believed climate change was real, saying that either way he wanted to bring back manufacturing and produce energy domestically because it was cleaner than energy production overseas.

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“Kamala Harris’ policies actually led to more energy production in China, more manufacturing overseas,” Vance said.

Walz touted “massive investments” in electric-vehicle technologies and solar manufacturing.

The two also sparred over high housing costs with Walz defending a proposal from Harris that would give downpayment assistance to some first-time homeowners and insisting it would not drive prices higher. And he pointed to efforts in Minnesota to invest in building more homes and reducing red tape. 

Vance though highlighted immigration, saying it was contributing to rising housing costs.

Capitol Attack

About 90 minutes into the debate, the topic turned to the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol by supporters of Trump seeking to stop then-Vice President Mike Pence from allowing certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory.

“Mike Pence made the right decision,” Walz said, and he asked Vance directly if Trump had won or lost the 2020 election.

“I’m focused on the future,” Vance replied. The senator sought to shift the conversation to censorship, which he cast as a greater threat to democracy.

Walz said the response was a “damning non-answer.”

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