Walz-Vance debate: Candidates tangle in wide-ranging debate

Vice President Harris, in a fundraising pitch email to supporters, said Walz "is ready" to debate Vance.

"In just hours, Tim Walz will debate JD Vance," she wrote. "I know that he is ready. And it would help if he knew donors like you had his back before he got on stage."

Harris added that "Tim has been an outstanding partner out on the campaign trail over the last two months," and "I have the utmost confidence in the team we've built."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn't say during the White House press briefing on Tuesday whether President Joe Biden would watch the vice presidential debate, but she said the president has "complete confidence" in Walz.

"He continues to be very busy with all of the events happening today," she said during Tuesday's briefing. "But he has complete confidence in Tim Walz."

Typically, fewer people watch vice presidential debates than presidential debates. And while presidential debates are historically one of the few things that can actually make a dent in the polls, vice presidential debates don't have the same track record.

According to Nielsen, since 2008, presidential debates have drawn an average audience of 65.7 million people. But vice presidential debates have drawn an average of just 54.1 million viewers. But 54.1 million people is still a pretty big audience -- so have past vice presidential debates actually changed the trajectory of the race?

That turns out to be a tricky question to answer. Read more here.

Vance will go to the spin room following his debate with Walz, according to a source familiar with the plan.

He also participated in the spin room after former President Donald Trump's debate against Vice President Kamala Harris in September.

Politico was first to report Vance's plans.