It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy.

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Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy. We think of it as a mini-magazine in your inbox.

WHAT TO WATCH IN THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews ([link removed])
Correspondent

In any election, it is important and deceptively difficult to sort out what matters.

In an election that is a dead heat? Even more so.

Will the CBS Vice Presidential Debate tonight ([link removed]) turn out to be one of those things that really matter?

Here are three things to watch.

The expectations game

Democratic nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been on a ballot — congressional or gubernatorial — since 2006. That’s eight campaigns. Republican nominee and Ohio Sen. JD Vance has run in exactly one election. He won his only U.S. Senate run two years ago.

Walz far outmatches Vance in years of on-stage political experience, but the Walz team is going out of its way to try to reverse expectations. In a CNN report ([link removed]) , a campaign source spoke of Walz having anxiety about the debate and warning Harris that he is not a good debater.

It is true that Vance’s Senate debate performances stood out. ([link removed]) He can be quick on his feet, as The New York Times said in its analysis ([link removed]) of the politician’s debating style.

However, the Vance team also is using the “we are outmatched” line. Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller told reporters Monday, “Tim Walz is very good in debates.” (He stressed “very.”)

Watch for which candidate seems more comfortable on stage and in their own skin. Few words these two men say may be remembered ([link removed]) , but their body language and confidence level could stick in voters’ minds.

Whoever wins that battle of impressions will win the expectations game.

Who attacks, and who gets attacked

Both men face a decision over when to go on offense and how much to turn up the heat.

On Monday’s call with reporters, the Trump-Vance team laid out a long list of items on which they are ready to attack Walz, from his past statements ([link removed]) to his record in office. ([link removed]) We counted more than a dozen separate items.

And no doubt, with Vance’s own repeated ([link removed]) controversial ([link removed]) statements ([link removed]) and his conversion ([link removed]) from anti- to pro-Trump, the Harris-Walz team is also ready to go on the attack.

But let’s add another layer: Will they attack one another, or end up focusing on the top-of-the-ticket candidates not on stage?

Why does this matter? This election is largely about which team manages to define the other. How these candidates approach their own ideas and whether and how much they go on the offensive will reveal a lot about the nature of each campaign and how they think they can win.

The facts, and where to check them

The CBS moderators do not plan to verbally fact check the candidates during the debate. Instead the network will offer a QR code during its broadcast that will take viewers to a real-time fact check on its website.

But the problem for viewers remains: There will be a torrent of claims during this debate, some coming so fast it may be hard to discern fact from spin – or worse, a lie made for political gain – in real time.

At Here’s the Deal, we swear by our friends at PolitiFact. They have already fact-checked many of the repeated claims ([link removed]) that could come up again Tuesday night. Note that at the top there are fact checks available in English and Spanish. ([link removed]) Their live fact check, which you can follow during the debate, is also on our website. ([link removed])

We highly recommend looking through these during the day today as you can, so you’ll be armed with context around some of the common talking points going into the debate.

One last source: I will attempt to post pertinent fact checks in real time on my feed on X. ([link removed])
More on politics from our coverage:
* Watch: Trump is under fire again ([link removed]) for comments on police violence and Harris’ mental competence.
* One Big Question: Where do Trump and Harris stand on crime and gun violence? A look at each candidate’s approach ([link removed]) on the issues.
* A Closer Look: How Trump’s plan to increase tariffs would affect U.S. workers and consumers. ([link removed])
* Perspectives: What does Project 2025 say about NOAA and the National Weather Service? PolitiFact dives into what the conservative blueprint would do. ([link removed])

HOW TO WATCH THE CBS VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
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Watch the Oct. 1 debate in the player above.
By Joshua Barajas, @Josh_Barrage ([link removed])
Senior Editor, Digital

The first vice presidential debate between Harris and Walz will begin at 9 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Oct. 1. It will be moderated by “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O'Donnell and "Face the Nation" chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan in New York.

After the debate,PBS News anchors Amna Nawaz ([link removed]) and Geoff Bennett ([link removed]) will host special coverage and analysis with a group of panelists and guests, including:
* Lisa Desjardins ([link removed]) , congressional correspondent
* Laura Barrón-López ([link removed]) , White House correspondent
* Amy Walter ([link removed]) , publisher and editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter
* Kevin Madden ([link removed]) , Republican strategist
* Ameshia Cross ([link removed]) , Democratic strategist

When special on-air coverage ends around 11 p.m. EDT, digital video producer Deema Zein ([link removed]) will host a live discussion with Desjardins and Barrón-López on our social platforms on major takeaways from the debate.

Check your local listings to find the PBS station near you, or watch online here. ([link removed])
You can also follow the PBS News’ coverage on YouTube ([link removed]) , X ([link removed]) , Facebook ([link removed]) and TikTok ([link removed]) , and see highlights on our Instagram. ([link removed])
More on the VP debate from our coverage:
* Watch: Walz’s “everyday man” persona ([link removed]) is squaring off against Vance’s “family values” appeal. ([link removed])
* One Big Question: How much could this VP debate matter? NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter discuss. ([link removed])
* Doubling Down: Trump and Vance have ramped up the anti-immigrant rhetoric ([link removed]) ahead of Election Day. Communities, such as Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, describe the fear ([link removed]) and other harmful effects created by the inflammatory remarks.
* Perspectives: An expert on the significance of Vance’s appearance at an event hosted by Lance Wallnau, a far-right Christian nationalist. ([link removed])

‘HALEY VOTERS FOR HARRIS’ RAMPS UP SUPPORT

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Photo by Rebecca Cook/Reuters

By Shrai Popat, @shraipopat ([link removed])
White House Producer

“Haley Voters for Harris,” a political action committee of anti-Trump voters, is launching its first major ad campaign Wednesday, according to details first provided to PBS News.

The seven-figure digital advertising effort targets voters who supported Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary, particularly in the “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. The group is also targeting the Sun Belt states, another critical battleground region ([link removed]) for Democrats.

In one ad, lifelong conservatives and former Trump voters explain that “there is nothing socialist about Kamala Harris,” and that while they may not agree on all policy matters, they understand she was a “tough prosecutor” and “put bad guys in prison.” In another ad, a lifelong Republican voter named Carol says “Trump added trillions to our deficit and that’s not conservative.”

Harris’ campaign has been aggressively courting Haley primary voters, a slice of the electorate that could prove critical in battleground states. The Republican-led group is hoping to convert roughly 25 to 40 percent of Haley primary voters in each battleground.

In Pennsylvania’s Republican primary, Haley won more than 16 percent of the vote, almost 157,000 votes ([link removed]) , despite having dropped out seven weeks before the April contest. That’s a bigger margin than President Joe Biden’s lead of 80,000 votes in his 2020 victory in the state.

The organization, helmed by Republicans who are dissatisfied with former President Donald, previously supported Biden ([link removed]) but relaunched with the new name once the president ended his re-election bid and Harris jumped in.

Haley Voters for Harris aims to appeal to center-right voters who might see Harris as a viable option. The ads will run on social media platforms like YouTube, Meta, the Max app, and on some gaming systems.

Craig Snyder, chair of Haley Voters for Harris, told PBS News that much of the messaging is aimed to counter the narrative that paints Harris as a “radical leftist,” a phrase often propagated ([link removed]) by Trump and his allies. Snyder is hopeful that the ads will help create a permission structure for conservatives to vote for a Democratic candidate.

“Our argument is pretty simple, and that is that the vice president is a candidate of the center of American politics,” he told White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López. “She may be center-left and these voters may be center-right, but the key word in that sentence is ‘center.’”

Snyder called Harris a “pragmatic individual who is seeking in this campaign a coalition with people across the aisle.”

Who’s behind this PAC? The pro-Haley PAC has had a few different names this election season. At the start of the year, the group was known as Primary Pivot ([link removed]) , which urged undeclared voters in New Hampshire to back Haley instead of Trump. When Haley quit the race, the group relaunched as “Haley Voters for Biden.” ([link removed]) When the group rebranded again to back Harris, Haley responded with a cease-and-desist letter. ([link removed])

PivotPac, which funds Haley Voters for Harris, has raised close to $900,000 ([link removed]) from July 2023 to August 2024. It has spent about 58 percent of those funds, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Why this matters: Haley has made it clear that she’s all in for Trump. But some of Haley’s former state campaign chairs, who helped her bid for president, are endorsing Harris ([link removed]) . ([link removed]) It’s unclear how many of Haley’s Republican supporters will ultimately back Harris at the ballot box but in a tight race, margins matter.

#POLITICSTRIVIA
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Photo by John Lamparski/Sipa USA
By Kenichi Serino, @KenichiSerino ([link removed])
Deputy News Editor, Digital

Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will face off Tuesday night ([link removed]) in their first and likely only vice presidential debate.

Beyond the opponents’ policy stances, there's one other difference that's written all over their faces. While Walz has the typical clean-shaven look favored by most of America’s politicians, Vance sports a beard, an uncommon sight in modern politics.

Our question: Who was the last U.S. president to have facial hair?

Send your answers to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: Which U.S. state has a no-frills design — a red circle with white letters — for its “I Voted” sticker?

The answer: Minnesota. The North Star State passed a law in 1993 ([link removed]) that laid out the simple design for the sticker (though the sticker’s original designer told the Pioneer Press he was open to his design being changed). ([link removed])

Congratulations to our winners: Joanne Martin and Peggy DeLapp!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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