The Veep Debate, or When the Opening Act Becomes the Headliner

A funny thing happened during Aerosmith’s “Permanent Vacation” tour in the late 1980s.

The Bad Boys from Boston were touring with some up-and-coming rockers who had recently released their debut album. As the tour went on, that album became a global sensation. That opening act was Guns N’ Roses.

I bring this up today not because I particularly care for either band — I’m sorry to the fans! — but because it mirrors an oddity of tonight’s vice-presidential debate.

Running-mate debates are supposed to be small potatoes, a diversionbetween the presidential debates, which are generally considered to be much more consequential. But without another presidential debate on the schedule, the bout between Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Senator JD Vance of Ohio could well be the last major televised face-off between representatives of both tickets before the election.

The supporting act, in other words, has become the headliner — and that means this veep debate just might be a bigger deal than usual.

“Because this is the last moment that a large swath of Americans are going to have a unified impression of this race, it does up the stakes for both Walz and Vance,” Kerry Healey, the former Republican lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, told me. “Ending on this note is something that gives the debate additional weight.”

There is an argument, of course, that vice-presidential debates are always important. Healey, a political figure who knows a thing or two about the importance of being No. 2, made it when I called her today.