Debate Recap, Israel vs Hezbollah, and Hurricane Helene

Some thoughts on recent events

Was Walz a bad pick for the Democrats? Is the “Axis of Resistance” going to strike back against and destroy Israel? What about Hurricane Helene – will it affect the election, and if so, how?

Keep reading and all will be revealed.

Vance Dominates Walz

Tuesday’s vice presidential debate resulted in a resounding victory for JD Vance. The Ohio senator appeared calm, well spoken, and incredibly intelligent – a nice compliment to the force of nature that is Trump. Vance dominated the moderators and made Walz look like an anxious old fool. The fact that Walz’s unsightly facial expressions were the subject of countless viral X posts and even a few articles tells you all you need to know. 

The debate once more put Walz’s lies in the foreground. Take this amusing Politico headline: “Walz says he ‘speaks like everybody else.’ And it’s not working for the campaign.”

Its opening paragraphs are incredible: 

Tim Walz has a problem misspeaking.

Since being tapped as Kamala Harris’ running mate, the folksy, plain-speaking Minnesota governor has had to explain a growing number of inaccurate statements — and at times embellishments — about his past. They range from comments about his military service to his visit to Hong Kong more than three decades ago to clarifying that his family didn’t specifically use in vitro fertilization. 

It’s unclear whether Walz’s verbal errors will undercut his credibility with voters. But the need to continually clean up those claims could politically hurt Walz and Harris, who are locked in a tight race with Donald Trump and JD Vance. And in some cases, key members of Harris’ circle weren’t aware of some of the inaccurate statements until they became public despite the vetting process, according to four people familiar with the conversations who were granted anonymity to discuss the matter.

Moments like these – moments when it’s so over for the Democrats that the media can’t help but tell it like it is – are to be savored. They don’t happen often, that’s for sure.

Harris and the DNC must have buyer’s remorse. Walz was a bad pick – probably not bad enough to greatly affect the outcome of the election. But he surely isn’t helping that effort, which makes him somewhat of an opportunity cost.

As far as polling goes, most results are even. According to one from CBS, 42% of respondents thought Vance won, compared to 41% for Walz. Polls done by Politico and CNN are dead even. Interestingly, in a focus group of undecided voters conducted by Frank Luntz, 12 participants thought Vance won, with only two giving the debate to Walz. 

With America as polarized as it is, and with the election but a month away, I’m not sure how much of an impact the vice presidential debate will have on who wins. But the debate is significant for another reason. As of now, the right has a succession problem. Eventually we will arrive at a post-Trump era. Who takes the torch at that point? The more Vance proves himself in the public arena, the closer we are to answering that question. 

Israel, Hezbollah, and Iran

After steamrolling Gaza and taking out key figures in Hamas leadership, Israel has turned its attention northward toward Hezbollah. Why? Well, Hezbollah has of course long been an enemy of the Jewish state. But it should be remembered that on Oct. 8 – just one day after the barbaric Hamas attack on Israeli civilians – Hezbollah began shelling northern Israel. The IDF and Hezbollah have been firing shots at each other ever since, but Israel was too busy fighting Hamas in the south to commit to the battle in the north. 

That changed on September 16, when Israel’s security cabinet decided to focus on returning the roughly 60,000 Israelis evacuated from northern Israel to their homes. The following day came the infamous pager attack, in which 12 people were killed and 2,750 were wounded after their pagers – sold to them by an Israeli front company – exploded.