California Democratic and Republican strategists weigh in on the Walz-Vance debate

SACRAMENTO – California political strategists weighed in on Tuesday Vice President Debate between Republican Senator JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

California and Kamala Harris' state record made it to the Debate phase.

“The real family separation policy in this country, unfortunately, is Kamala Harris’ wide-open southern border,” Vance said.

“She is the only person in this race who has prosecuted transnational gangs for human trafficking,” Walz said.

California has 1.85 million undocumented immigrants, more than any state in the country. According to the Pew Research Center, there are 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Tab Berg is a Republican strategist.

“I think Californians are just as frustrated about immigration status as the rest of the country,” Berg said. “And I think the Walz-Harris campaign is making a colossal mistake by telling people the lie that they actually made a difference.”

Vance answered questions about former President Donald Trump's mass deportation plan, which Democratic strategist Roger Salazar said danced around the issue of family separation.

“One of the things that struck me about JD Vance is that he tries to walk the line between being a repressive type of regime and not sounding like it,” Salazar said.

Political columnist and author Dan Morain said Vance softened his image and Walz came across as authentic.

“The question is whether this debate will even matter,” Morain said. “I think Vance and Walz both crossed a line that was more middle-of-the-road.”

This was the final stage of debate in this race for the White House. This pair of vice presidential candidates survived with no big moments and no gaffes.