Republicans from the rural coal-mining community of Somerset County cheered on JD Vance, while mocking Tim Walz as resembling Jerry Sandusky.
Posted on 10/02/2024 5:51:03 AM PDT by lightman
SOMERSET – About 25 Republicans from this rural coal-mining community gathered at a sports tavern Tuesday night for the political showdown between vice presidential candidates.
Amid tables filled with beer, pizza and wings, the GOP faithful expected a heaping serving of political red meat as tart-tongued Republican JD Vance took on homespun Minnesota Democrat Tim Walz.
Only, they largely didn’t get it.
Instead of confrontational fireworks between the candidates, a polite, reasoned policy discussion broke out.
“It was a lot calmer than a Trump debate,” said Guy Berkebile, the Somerset County GOP chairman who organized the event.
“You know, I like Trump; I like that he has the fire. But yeah, I thought tonight’s debate was, was friendly, was respectful,” he added.
With Vance largely known for his caustic comments about “childless cat ladies” and Haitian immigrants in the first-term senator’s home state of Ohio eating pets, Donald Trump’s VP pick pivoted to polite. In the process, Vance shored up his sagging favorability ratings, Berkebile said.
“In my opinion, his likability skyrocketed,” he said of Vance. “In particular, among women. Whenever I talk to them about Trump -- you know, they’re Republican women, they’re going to vote for Trump. But they don’t necessarily like his personality. I think Vance’s personality displayed tonight is going to win over a lot of the females. He came across as polite, as smart, as factual and very calm.”
The partisan crowd was far less favorable to Gov. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ running mate. The crowd guffawed repeatedly at what some saw as the flappable Democrat’s wide-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights expressions on camera.
So much so, the one-time high-school football coach reminded people at Berkebile’s table of another now-infamous coach from Pennsylvania.
“The comment at our table was that when he turned his face sideways, he looked like Jerry Sandusky,” Berkebile said of Walz, comparing his appearance to that of the retired Penn State Nittany Lions defensive coordinator later convicted and jailed for molesting multiple young boys.
“Walz came out in my opinion sounding very rehearsed, you know, from his opening statement to his to his ending statement,” Berkebile said. “JD seemed much more natural. He had a much better grasp of the of the facts and spoke with authority.”
Kami Greig, who brought her 15-year-old daughter to the debate party, said Walz did have a moment that moved her when he spoke about his 17-year-old witnessing a shooting.
“I’ve never heard that come out before, so I’ll be anxious to see if that’s true,” she said.
Still the comment wasn’t enough to sway her on gun control in a rural county where hunting’s a passion and the 2nd amendment is sacrosanct.
“I don’t think it’s a gun problem. I think it’s a mental health crisis,” Greig said. “It’s sad that we have to think about making schools safer for our children, but we do.”
Overall, she said she was pleasantly surprised by the more sedate “mannerisms of the debate.” But she maintained that a “cool, collected” Vance got the better of the policy exchanges.
“I think JD Vance is very eloquent, very knowledgeable,” Greig said.
By weaving in his poverty-stricken upbringing in small-town, rural Ohio, Vance, author of ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ connected with people in Somerset and many other working-class pockets of swing-state Pennsylvania with similar biographies, she added.
“I think this was a nice platform for him to go into that,” Greig said. “It’s smart. People are going to see Vance in a new light. I think he answered some of the questions tonight more elaborately.”
On pure debating points, it was no contest, according to Ross Stewart, Republican State Committee member from Indian Lake.
“I think Sen. Vance did an outstanding job,” he said. “I’m very impressed with Sen. Vance’s performance.”
By contrast, Ross said of Walz: “You could see the concern on his face. He seemed unprepared, and it seemed like he didn’t have responses to what Sen. Vance was saying.”
For Berkebile, it all boiled down to leadership on a day when Iranian missiles rained down on Israel and millions of Americans can’t afford the high cost of living.
“What we see going on around the world makes me think of Trump’s statement today concerning the rocket attack by Iran. He said ‘the world is on fire.’ There’s a lack of leadership from the United States. Vance offered leadership and spelled it out,” Berkebile said.
Pa. Democrats welcomed a ‘real debate,’ but still derided Vance’s performance as ‘smarmy’Oct. 1, 2024, 11:13 p.m.
GOP trains poll watchers in Cumberland County as party still hedges on Trump’s fraud claimsSep. 26, 2024, 8:56 p.m.
Finally, one of the sharpest debate conflicts wasn’t between Vance and Walz. Rather, it was the Republican senator talking on the CBS moderators over a Biden-Harris policy to bring in Haitian immigrants. As Vance attempted to explain specifics on the program giving these immigrants legal status, CBS cut off his mic.
Berkebile blasted it as another three-on-one debate with moderators ganging up on the GOP candidate.
“I thought it was censorship,” he said of the CBS move to silence Vance’s mic. “The program that these immigrants are coming in under is a special program that the Biden administration has for Venezuelans and for Haitians where they’re flying them into the country.”
Republicans from the rural coal-mining community of Somerset County cheered on JD Vance, while mocking Tim Walz as resembling Jerry Sandusky.
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Did Walz lie about his son being in a room with a school shooting?
100% true, and that was his goal for the night, he wildly succeeded.
Yeah, I started laughing at the Jerry Sandusky observation. Not exactly the best reference.
LMAO.
The rural PA voters support Trump, we need some common sense coming from places like Philly, Pittsburg, etc.
We always knew there was something creepy about Timpon.
His school shooting claim sounded phony to me. Why hasn’t that been mentioned before as Harris and Watz have blamed Republicans for “gun violence?” It’s a major issue to beat Republicans over the head with.
The man lies reflexively and habitually, or he exaggerates his qualifications, e.g., military record, etc.
Okay, Republicans, research this. I’ll bet it’s another lie, and if it is, the Harris-Walz candidacy is toast.
Well, he’s now a self-professed knucklehead, so what do you expect?
Walz, deer-in-the-headlights? More like crazy eyes as when he yanked his poor son on stage. 🤪
I thought it was amusing, with a candidate like Harris, that the Leftists view Vance as “smarmy”.
I suppose for good reason, they have never looked in a mirror…
I rarely say something bad about myself...although at 80, I seem to be getting kinda lazy.
They're upset that he connected with white suburban women.
Walz was too busy playing tic tac toe on the sheet of paper in front of him.
I 3xpect the enemies today will be of Walz writing something on the paper lol
I’ll admit a little laziness myself. I’m willing to admit it because my humility is my greatest virtue
Right now, I'm trying to get my Amazon account re-instated. I pray for patience.
OR - trying to listen to the voice in his ear....
****************
So much so, the one-time junior high-school assistant football coach reminded people at Berkebile’s table of another now-infamous coach from Pennsylvania.
“The comment at our table was that when he turned his face sideways, he looked like Jerry Sandusky,” Berkebile said of Walz, comparing his appearance to that of the retired Penn State Nittany Lions defensive coordinator later convicted and jailed for molesting multiple young boys.
I hope these rural folks turn out in big numbers for us.
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