Senator Vance and Governor Walz will sit for their first and likely only debate on Tuesday night after weeks of anticipation and preparation by both sides.

The debate was already expected to feature discussions about both men’s foreign policy goals given the conflict unfolding in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war, though Iran’s missile strikes on Israel will also now almost certainly be a major focus. 

Messrs. Vance and Walz have been preparing for their debate tonight for weeks, going into private sessions with staff and advisors to hold mock debates for hours on end. The transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, has been standing in for Mr. Vance in the Democratic prep sessions, while Congressman Tom Emmer — another white-haired Minnesotan — has been playing Mr. Walz in the Republican prep room. 

One of Mr. Vance’s biggest hurdles for the night will be to convince the American people that he is honest, trustworthy, and likable. Two surveys from Gallup and CBS News in recent days have shown that the Republican candidate is the most unpopular vice presidential nominee of this century, and that Mr. Walz is seen by voters as much more capable and authentic than Mr. Vance

During an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Mr. Emmer said Mr. Vance’s preparation has been exhaustive over the course of the last month. 

“My small part is, we spent the last month going through every debate Tim Walz has done since he first started running for Congress. I had to learn his favorite phrases, had to learn his mannerisms,” Mr. Emmer said. “Tim is gonna rely on his folksy personality … he’s not gonna get into substance.”

“I’m very confident JD’s gonna wipe the floor with him,” the congressman added. 

Mr. Emmer noted that Mr. Vance — a Yale-trained lawyer — will focus heavily on issues like affordability, border security, and foreign policy, which are three areas where voters, according to polling, trust President Trump over Vice President Harris. 

Mr. Vance is known in Washington for his sharp debating style, effortlessly changing the subject to stay on message when he doesn’t like questions he has been asked. He was praised by Republicans in 2022 when — as he was in a neck-and-neck race for the Ohio Senate seat — he pivoted from a question about January 6 to the Democratic Party’s response to the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. 

“He loves the sparring because he knows he’s good at it, and it’s a venue for him to show off the intellectual capacity difference between him and his opponent,” a source close to the senator told Notus. 

While Mr. Vance may be more well-versed and more well-spoken on the issues, it may be hard to reverse the overwhelmingly negative view that voters have of the Republican vice presidential nominee. According to a Gallup poll released Tuesday tracking Mr. Vance’s and Mr. Walz’s favorable ratings, the Ohio senator is clocking in as the least popular vice presidential nominee of this century. 

Just 41 percent of voters view Mr. Vance as being an “excellent” or “pretty good” choice for vice president. Gallup has been tracking that question since the 2000 election, and Mr. Vance is currently rated as the least favorably viewed candidate for the vice presidency of the 21st century. 

A CBS News poll released Monday seemed to confirm voters’ lack of excitement for Mr. Vance. The survey asked which candidate — Mr. Vance or Mr. Walz — was more competent, more honest, more authentic, and more prepared to be president should the worst come to pass. Voters associated Mr. Walz with those attributes more than Mr. Vance. 

On the question of who is qualified to be commander in chief, Mr. Walz far outpaces his Republican opponent. In total, 49 percent of voters say Mr. Walz is ready to lead compared to 51 percent who say he is not, compared to 44 percent who say Mr. Vance is qualified and 56 percent who say he is not.