ANALYSIS — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a former football defensive coordinator, did not call many blitzes Tuesday night.
The Democratic vice presidential nominee famously ran a 4-4 defensive scheme while an assistant high school coach. From a political standpoint, he mostly dropped his four rhetorical linebackers into pass coverage during his lone planned debate with Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican nominee.
Walz’s game plan allowed Vance to methodically move the proverbial ball down the field, even when he was embellishing the record of his running mate, former President Donald Trump, and distorting those of Walz, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.