Tracking Attacks in the Vance-Walz Debate

The New York Times is analyzing patterns in Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate between Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Senator JD Vance of Ohio. We are tracking the candidates’ speaking time, breaking it down by issues and measuring how many minutes each side spends on the attack.

Minutes of speaking time and length of attacks

The debate is scheduled to last 90 minutes.

Attacking each other versus the presidential candidates

Microphones will not be muted during the debate, raising the possibility of lively exchanges of ideas and insults.

The debate, which is taking place in New York City, is the only matchup between Mr. Walz and Mr. Vance. It will give the men their last prime-time opportunity to argue in defense of their ticket and to serve as an attack dog, a role often expected of running mates.

But the presidential nominees themselves have not shied away from lobbing personal attacks, as last month’s debate showed.

With polls consistently showing a tight race, both campaigns are hoping to use the debate as an opportunity to reach undecided voters just 35 days before Election Day.

What are the top issues?

A measurement of how much time the candidates speak on 15 key issues and how much time they spend attacking their rival on that topic.

How tonight’s attacks compare with previous debates

Percentage of time the candidates spend attacking each other’s policies and character.