C-SPAN, a powerful network

NEWS AND OPINION:

C-SPAN — the nation’s preeminent public affairs channel — has a formidable reach when it comes to political fare.

As of Wednesday, C-SPAN has shown 538 rallies and speeches in their entirety in 2024. They have hosted in recent days former President Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris, President Biden and vice presidential hopefuls Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

There’s more. C-SPAN has covered 376 campaign events and programs in 2024 — excluding speeches and rallies by candidates. And if you include segments from C-SPAN’s call-in program “Washington Journal” and other interviews, C-SPAN’s 2024 election coverage reached 619 programs on Wednesday, the network said in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

And just think. No commercials.

“C-SPAN has a long, proud, competitive tradition of relentlessly pursuing opportunities to show as many debates as possible from around the country. And 2024 will be no different,” said C-SPAN political editor Nate Hurst, also in a statement.

“It’s not just about simulcasting presidential and vice-presidential debates for C-SPAN. It’s also about showing debates in top House, Senate and governor races as well. We’ve got one of the tightest races for control of Congress in modern political history — and C-SPAN’s debate coverage will reflect it,” Mr. Hurst said.

On election night — Nov. 5 — C-SPAN networks will provide live coverage of results and victory and concession speeches from the presidential race as well as congressional and gubernatorial races. Programming will be available on C-SPAN, C-SPAN Radio, C-SPAN.org and the C-SPAN Now app. In addition, C-SPAN will take viewer calls and comments through the night, answering this pertinent question: “Who did you vote for and why?”

Find a comprehensive guide to this incredible array of coverage at https://www.c-span.org/campaign/?2024.

Yes, there is a question mark in this URL — and don’t include a period or other punctuation at the end of it in your web browser.

THE DEBATE AFTERMATH

One question dominated much of the news coverage of the vice presidential debate on Tuesday evening.

“Who won?” asked Newsweek, USA Today, MSNBC, the BBC, the Des Moines Register, The New Republic and The New York Times — to name a few of the inquisitive news organizations. Some also turned the question into an online mini-poll for their own readers or viewers.

There was also interpretive commentary and about the tone of the encounter between Sen. JD Vance, Ohio Republican, and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“We witnessed a strangely civil tilt that was full of small gestures of courtesy and even agreement. Vance and Walz mostly spoke in complete sentences, did not once call each other a liar, and acted as though they lived in the same country,” said Ed Kilgore, political columnist for New York Magazine.

“They faced off in a mostly polite yet policy-heavy vice presidential debate Tuesday night that was described by some as ’midwestern nice,’” Forbes said.

“JD Vance Controlled the Debate — Until the End,” Politico declared.

“Post-debate polls show Vance narrowly edging Walz out as the debate winner,” a headline in The Guardian read.

“JD Vance, Tim Walz face off in New York as the world deteriorates into chaos,” Breitbart News stated.

OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT

Here’s one more political takeaway from the aforementioned debate. Republican heavyweights heaped much public praise on Sen. JD Vance afterward.

Former President Donald Trump led the way with a terse comment posted to TruthSocial.com — in capital letters, of course:

“GREAT JOB JD — We will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Mr. Trump wrote.

Pubic praise also came from House Speaker Mike Johnson — who advised in a written statement that Mr. Vance won the debate “hands down because he had answers, solutions and policies that would help restore the American dream for all.”

More good reviews arrived from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer, House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, Senate GOP Conference Chairman John Barrasso, and Sens. Mike Lee, Roger Marshall, Markwayne Mullin, Steve Daines, Marsha Blackburn, Jim Risch, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton and Tommy Tuberville.

Others who applauded Mr. Vance on the House side: Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, Brian Mast, Byron Donalds, Darrell Issa, Ronny Jackson and Troy Nehls.

But wait, there’s more.

Praise also came in from former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, America First Policy Institute CEO Brooke Rollins, Job Creators Network CEO Alfredo Ortiz and Turning Point founder and President Charlie Kirk.

This roster of applause was shared with Inside the Beltway by Make America Great Again Inc., a political organization.

“Make America Great Again Inc’s mission is to ensure a second Trump administration and to promote America First candidates. President Trump delivered for Americans before and he will do it again,” the group said in a public statement.

WHERE’S TRUMP?

In case you want to know, the aforementioned Donald Trump will campaign at a rally on Thursday at Saginaw State College in Saginaw, Michigan. Come Friday, Mr. Trump will host a town hall at the Crown Complex in Fayetteville, North Carolina. And on Saturday, he’ll welcome his supporters at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

POLL DU JOUR

• 58% of U.S. adults think a third political party is needed in the U.S.; 69% of independents, 53% of Democrats and 48% of Republicans agree.

• 60% of men and 56% of women agree.

• 60% of “whites” and 55% of “non-whites” agree.

• 37% think that the traditional two-party system does an adequate job; 27% of independents, 41% of Democrats and 47% of Republicans agree.

• 36% of men and 38% of women agree.

• 40% of “non-whites” and 35% of “whites” agree.

• 5% don’t know if a third party is needed or not; 4% of independents, 6% of Democrats and 5% of Republicans agree.

• 4% of men and 7% of women agree.

• 5% of “non-whites”and 5% of “whites” agree.

Source: A Gallup Poll of 1,007 U.S. adults conducted by telephone Sept. 3-15 and released Tuesday.


• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUniverse.