The Hitchhiker's Guide to how the VP debate is sometimes more memorable than the presidential debates

It’s doubtful that this week’s debate between Vice Presidential nominees Tim Walz and JD Vance will command quite the same attention as the debate between the nominees: Vice President Harris and former President Trump. But historically, tilts between the running mates are often more pugilistic. A lot feistier. More fun to watch. And sometimes, more memorable.

It’s hard to say why the undercard can be more intriguing than the main event. But first round playoff games in hockey are often better matches than the Stanley Cup Finals. I’ve long asserted that the American League and National League Championship Series is generally more competitive baseball than what you experience during the World Series.

Perhaps it has something to do with the vice presidential candidates introducing themselves to the audience. They simply aren’t as well known.

"Who am I? Why am I here?," quipped late Rear Admiral James Stockdale when independent Presidential candidate Ross Perot tapped him as his 1992 running mate.

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Stockdale’s folksy line immediately drew laughter and applause from the crowd gathered that night in Atlanta.

"I’m not a politician. Everybody knows that. So don’t expect me to use the language of the Washington insider," said Stockdale from his lectern wedged between future President Clinton’s running mate, then-Sen. Al Gore, D-Tenn., and Vice President Dan Quayle.

While Gore and Quayle quarreled, their verbal fusillades caromed back and forth in front of Stockdale. He was mostly a mute bystander. At one point, trying to get in a word edgewise, Stockdale abruptly blurted that he felt like he was in the "middle of a Ping-Pong" match.

Later in the debate, moderator Hal Bruno of ABC News