Ahead of Tuesday's vice presidential debate, a look back at previous highlights

Vice presidential candidates Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz will go head-to-head in a debate Tuesday night.

The Minnesota governor and U.S. senator from Ohio have already made repeated jabs at one another from the campaign trail, with Walz calling Vance " weird " and Vance accusing Walz of stolen valor.

But Vance may have an uphill battle going into Tuesday. FiveThirtyEight polling as of Friday shows Vance is viewed net unfavorability by more than 11 points, which has grown from about three points since becoming the nominee. Walz' ratings, on the other hand, show he is viewed net favorably by 3.8 percentage points, a smaller margin than a nine-point net favorable rating when he was announced, FiveThirtyEight data shows.

Going into the 2020 vice presidential debate, the candidates were similarly tilted. A 2020 Ipsos poll for FiveThirtyEight shows former Vice President Mike Pence was viewed net unfavorably by 15 points, compared to Vice President Kamala Harris who was viewed net favorably by five points.

Both presidential debates of this election cycle have been monumental; the first led to President Joe Biden dropping out of the race, and the second was perhaps the only chance for Harris to face former President Donald Trump directly. The vice presidential debate will be a closer look at two candidates who would need to be ready to step up and lead the country should anything happen to the president.

As far as vice presidential debates go, here is a look back at the most recent debates and the impression they left:

Date, moderators, channel, more: When is the vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance?

2020: Mike Pence, Kamala Harris...and the fly

In 2020, Pence and Harris sparred in a debate moderated by USA TODAY's Susan Page.

Polls in the aftermath showed both Harris had a good night, but not so much to be a knock-out. Harris' favorability ratings improved more than Pence's, but it wasn't seen as hugely consequential in the election.

Still, it created some memorable moments, like when Harris pushed back on Pence for interrupting her with a polite smile as she said, "Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking."

Also, Pence had a friend tag along when a black fly landed on his silver hair, unnoticed by those except the viewers.

More: Kamala Harris has some debate moves. I know. I moderated her last one.

Kaine repeatedly interrupted Mike Pence in 2016

Kaine and Pence may be more similar to Vance and Walz, as both were relatively new on the national stage and running alongside polarizing candidates.

Both candidates interrupted each other in a spirited debate, but Kaine seemed to be a hair more aggressive.

Both candidates focused on Trump , as Kaine tried to denounce him and Pence tried to defend him.

More: What's it like to debate Tim Walz?

2012: Biden followed Obama's debate fumble with Paul Ryan

Biden and former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan went head to head in 2012, after former President Barack Obama fumbled through a debate with Mitt Romney. (Obama mentioned that "bad debate" in his early defense of Biden's disastrous performance in the June 27, 2024 debate. )

Biden tried to make up for that ground against Ryan, appearing engaged, energetic and combative.

Ryan kept his cool as the up-and-coming conservative known for controversial budget moves.

Sarah Palin v. Biden - strong showing for the contentious 2008 candidate

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin repeatedly commanded attention while running with Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain. As a result, her debate against Biden was one of the most anticipated vice presidential debates in history and broke records with approximately 70 million viewers.

But the debate went off without a hitch, both candidates had strong showings, and it wasn't judged to have a big effect on the presidential race.

Contributing: Susan Page, Maureen Groppe, Paul Singer and Cooper Allen

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ahead of Tuesday's vice presidential debate, a look back at previous highlights