Comment on Why Tuesday’s vice presidential debate could matter more than history suggests

By WILL WEISSERT WASHINGTON (AP) — Tim Walz and JD Vance might have the chance to reshape the political landscape Tuesday in their first and only debate. Vice presidential picks have traditionally taken on the role of political attack dog, laying into opponents so that their running mate can appear above the political fray.

With another debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump unlikely, all eyes will be on their running mates as they square off. Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Republican U. S. Sen. J. D. Vance will have a debate at 7 p.m. MST Oct. 1, and the exchange of ideas will be broadcast on CBS, CBS News 24/7 and Paramount+. Both vice presidential candidates will be at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York and “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan of “Face the Nation” will moderate the exchange of ideas, the network said.

By the time he endorsed former President Donald Trump in late August, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential bid had long ceased to be a functioning campaign. He had collapsed in the polls, failed to qualify for the ballot in many states, and basically stopped doing events. Yet, in death, his campaign found new life—as a way to game the democratic process for his favored candidate.

In mid-September, former President Donald Trump said he planned to visit Aurora “in the next two weeks” as he stoked a national firestorm about immigration and an alleged Venezuelan gang takeover in the city. On Monday — 12 days after those rally comments — there didn’t appear to be any plans developing for the Republican presidential candidate to visit Colorado’s third-largest city.

Plans to build at least 300 units of affordable housing on vacant land a short walk or roll away from the 40th and Colorado Boulevard rail station in northeast Denver are back on track after City Council members paused a rezoning application for the project two weeks ago. Following that delay, council members voted 10 to 2 on Monday night to rezone the 14-acre property located at the northeast corner of East 40th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.

A group of congressional Democrats and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday highlighted dozens of profitable U. S. corporations that have paid their executives more than they've paid in federal income taxes in recent years, a problem that the lawmakers attributed in large part to former President Donald Trump's massive tax-cut package that Republicans are working to extend. "In the first five years following the 2017 giveaway, 35 companies raked in $277 billion in domestic profits and paid their executives $9.5 billion—more than they paid in federal income taxes," the lawmakers noted in letters to each of the companies, pointing to recent research by the Institute for Policy Studies and Americans for Tax Fairness. read more