former dnc chair donna brazile and former rnc chair and trump chief of staff reince priebus. e. donna, i got to start with you. this debate struck me as different from most of this campaign. this was cordial. they were civil to each other. they complimented each other and particularly walls seemed to pull his punches. were you surprised by that? i'm sensing some democrats a little disappointed. maybe that he did a little bit too much of pulling of the punches. >> no. look, i mean, as you well know, vice presidential candidates rarely move the needle. less than 5% of the american people will will likely change their vote or even decide to vote based on watching this debate tonight. but, you know, tim had one important job, and that was to try to close the deal with some of those undecided voters, especially in those crucial battleground states. he came in as a teacher to explain things. so, you know, when people look at the debate, they will say, wow, he was a little slow. no he was trying to make sure that he could set out the policies of a harris walsh administration, not to

let's bring in donna brazil, former chief of staff to trump, former head of the rnc reince prie priebuso see both of you together. it's like unity in america. donna, what does governor walz need to do tonight? >> first of all, he's a very plain spokesperson. so his job tonight is just talk to the american people, have a conversation with them, don't get into any needless fights with jd vance, and remember that he's a coach. this is third down and he's so close. so close the deal with the american people. talk about how you're going to lower costs. talk about how you're going to fight for their freedoms. and most importantly, talk about our safety and prosperity. >> i'm going to get you to react to john carl earlier in the hour. john's convinced that governor walz is a good debater. he's got experience, and the harris campaign knows that. >> what i do know about him is that he's down to earth, and he's a wonderful person who have a conversation with, because he has heart and he has grit. when you have heart and grit, you can communicate in a very effective way. >> what does jd vance have

let's talk about the state of the race, donna brazile.er another race, this far along, this close where nothing seems november. >> it baffles the imagination, especially with the almost billion dollars in spending on digital ads, on political ads, but, you know, it's going to come down to the ground game. it's going to come down to probably the 17, 18 counties across seven states that will determine the election. at this point in the game, they can put all the money on air. of course, i'm biased. i like the ground game. you're laughing at them, but you know what i mean. i have to go where the people are. you can no longer just dial it in. you have to meet them where they are, whether it's grocery or where they go and pray. the advantage is to kamala harris. she has the ground game and the resources and donald trump and j.d. vance are operating on blue smoke and mirrors and they have been on the ground long enough to understand that they can also win in the margin. >> george: is that a concern for republicans that they're being outspent on

. >> and donna brazile, your reaction. how do you think governor walz did?ll, you know, as a school teacher i thought he did very well. he deserved high marks for explaining sometimes the difficulty of trying to figure out where j.d. vance and donald trump stands on the important issues. look, the governor had to do one thing tonight, and that was to close the deal with voters. and i think he did that for kamala harris. >> donna brazile, our thanks to you. martha, do you think the voters heard enough about the issues and real solutions? >> we talked to those voters earlier tonight. they heard everything they would want to hear i assume about those issues because as we've all said tonight it was a very civil debate. no real strong attacks. >> we'll be >>> if you're counting 35 days now until the presidential election, obviously early voting already under way in this presidential race that truly is a dead heat in the battlegrounds. very close tonight. our coverage is going to continue of the vice presidential debate on abc news live with l dangerous heat wave