Before Pete Buttigieg was playing JD Vance in debate prep , there was Danny O’Connor.
A local elected official in Columbus, Ohio, O’Connor assumed the role of Vance in debate prep for then-Rep. Tim Ryan during their fierce 2022 Senate race.
In an interview with POLITICO Magazine, O’Connor discussed what Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz should expect from Vance at the debate next week — including his extraordinary discipline and a propensity for awkward laughter.
“Generally he’ll laugh if something is absolutely true that he needs to diffuse,” O’Connor said.
With another presidential debate looking increasingly unlikely, the Oct. 1 vice presidential face-off may be the last major set-piece event of the presidential election. That means that for both Walz and Vance, the stakes of this traditionally second-tier event will be even higher.
