Last night Tim Kaine (Clinton) and Mike Pence (Trump) faced off in the one and only vice presidential debate of this
campaign season. These are two seasoned politicians; both were prepared for the evening’s festivities.
This was a fight from beginning to end; both candidates interrupted and spoke over each other. Kaine was clearly more aggressive making Pence look more polished. But, that was only appearance; if you listened to the rhetoric Kaine was much clearer on policy. In all fairness Pence had a much more difficult task, having to defend the many outlandish remarks of his running mate. For much of the debate Pence simply did not defend Trump, he did when he could but some things are just indefensible.
Elaine Quijano did her best as moderator and did a fairly good job. But, these dogs were intent on fighting and often just ignored her attempts to control the battle. The candidates also ignored most of the questions and stuck to preplanned attacks.
There were only a few areas where the candidates said anything highlighting the differences in the two camps.
Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, Pence spoke of a get tougher policy and putting more US troops back on the ground while Kaine praised Obama for getting US troops out.
Pence used the phrase “war on coal” a number of times, indicating his side would like to increase the use of coal. Kaine just let the implication sit without a challenge.
Kaine stated a Clinton administration would protect social security from privatization and pointed out Trump had compared the program to a ponzi scheme. Pence left this subject alone, only saying the Trump administration would fulfill obligations to seniors.
The rest was mainly personal attacks on the others running mates. Kaine had a much easier time attacking and was able to use Trumps own statements as weapons. He kept throwing the statements at Pence and daring him to defend Trump. Pence mainly sidestepped.
This debate is unlikely to sway any voters. I think the analysis will be a win for Pence simply because Kaine came off as too aggressive. I give Kaine a solid win on the issues. Putting more troops into the caldron of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan is a very bad idea (Obama is sending another 650 troops in right now and that is a mistake). Coal is not coming back. The industry provided good paying jobs but the product is destroying our planet and most Americans understand this. Few Americans support any major changes in social security it is just too risky. These are the points that matter but, I doubt many listeners heard them over the din.
