A second debate between the two, like the outcome of the election itself, remains uncertain. And for the Democratic contestant, probably unnecessary.

While the former congressman spent over a decade in the House, serving on Veterans Affairs and eventually rising to become the ranking member of that committee, at no time was he ever the chairman.

The Trump-Vance campaign is questioning Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's military service record after he was selected as Kamala Harris's running mate.

A man from the bottom now on top, Vance is the vanguard of the new right, a kind of populist conservatism unconcerned with the niceties of long-established GOP orthodoxy.