In doing so, though, #JDVance said many misleading or totally untrue things [#lies], such as that #Trump saved #Obamacare, that #immigrants caused the US #housing crisis, & that Trump was merely peacefully discussing “problems” w/the 2020 election rather than blatantly trying to steal that election from the rightful winner, Joe #Biden.

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So, on points, #JDVance may have won by a nose. But he did so in a way that is unlikely to matter very much, if at all, for the presidential contest. In general, vice presidential debates very rarely impact the polls. And this particular debate lacked any breakout moment likely to dominate headlines for days in what’s become a very crowded October news environment (Middle East escalation, Hurricane Helene, the port strike).

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Vance didn’t engage in bomb-throwing; he wasn’t an attack dog or an edgelord. He assured viewers that he felt their pain and that their pain was all Kamala Harris’s fault. (He solved the problem of how to hold Harris responsible for Biden’s record by simply rebranding the Biden-Harris administration as the “Kamala Harris administration,” pretending she was in charge of everything all along.)

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…#TimWalz’s performance was not disastrous. Far from it. He seems to have come off just fine to viewers, per CBS’s post-debate poll, & he had several good moments. For instance, it was smart of him to ask #JDVance directly whether #Biden won the 2020 election, & to call Vance’s dodge a “damning non-answer.”

It was not exactly a masterful showing, though. #Walz seemed uncomfortable in the format compared to the smooth-talking #Vance, …& he often missed opportunities to call out Vance’s #lies….

One of #JDVance’s more remarkable #lies of the night was this: #Trump saved #Obamacare.

He said the #law “was crushing under the weight of its own regulatory burden in health care costs” before TFG took office in 2017 & started loosening some of its rules.

“I think he can make a good argument that it salvaged Obamacare, which was doing disastrously until Donald Trump came along,” #Vance said.

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#Trump supported the #Republican #Congress’s effort to roll back most of Obamacare, including undoing some of the regulations for #PreexistingConditions & making major #cuts to #Medicaid. It failed because of #JohnMcCain.

Trump dramatically cut funding for #enrollment outreach. He tried to introduce Medicaid work requirements for people covered by the #ACA’s expansion (but was stopped by the courts).

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#Trump deregulated short-term #insurance plans that left people vulnerable to thousands of dollars in #bills if they had a serious #medical emergency.

In 2016, when Trump was elected, the #ACA marketplaces covered 12.7 million people. In 2020, when he lost the election to Joe #Biden, they covered 11.4M. After 4 years of Biden, 21.4M Americans are getting their insurance through HealthCare.gov or one of its state counterparts.

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Voters have come to trust #Democrats on #healthcare much more over the years since the #law #Republicans tagged as “#Obamacare” passed. More than 60% of Americans now say they like the #ACA.
In 2010, Obamacare was the culprit for the Democratic wipeout in #Congress, but its political fortunes have turned dramatically. In 2018, Democrats won the #House, largely by running on a message that w/o a Democratic check, #Trump’s myriad efforts to topple the #law would succeed.

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The problem with the GOP on this issue, as Walz pretty effectively pointed out last night, is that they keep saying there is some kind of magic "choice" that allows YOU to pay almost nothing for healthcare by making THEM pay more.

What 60% of the country understands is that YOU can become one of THEM in a heartbeat -- or lack of one.

I suppose I should not be amazed that 40% of the people in this country think is perfectly morally acceptable for ME to get some great benefits that results in the suffering of others.

And to think that a good chunk of that 40% think of themselves as "Christian."