Welcome back to normal everyone. How refreshing was that? There’s actual substance to cover here and I’m excited to talk about it for a change!
Before we dive in I want to point out that I’ll be referring to false or misleading claims made. I won’t be litigating them here but please feel free to check them out here.
Vice President Mike Pence
The Vice President had a far tougher job than his opponent tonight. The President’s performance last week had a massive negative effect on the campaigns numbers and tonight the VP had to shift the tone and make the campaign’s case. On changing the tone I think he succeeded big time. Pence seemed measured, compassionate, and commanding. He landed solid (if slightly exaggerated) policy points on taxes and clearly articulated the campaign’s positions. That said he was ostensibly giving a stump speech most of the time and dodged more questions than his opponent. He missed some opportunities to clarify anti-trump talking points and his attacks were mostly based on false or misleading information. Now I should mention that not answering direct questions is not an uncommon tactic in politics and is classic Pence on off the debate stage. Overall an as expected performance from the VP and a good thing too because his campaign needed it badly.
Senator Kamala Harris
Senator Harris came into this debate with everything to lose and very little to gain. The Biden/Harris campaign came in up in every major poll conducted since the last debate so the conventional wisdom says play it safe and don’t make a spectacle of yourself. On that Senator Harris delivered and then some. She held her ground, covered her talking points, and didn’t create a negative moment for the campaign. I had mentioned last week that I thought Vice President Biden was prepped badly and I have the exact opposite opinion tonight. This was hands down the best debate performance from Harris and she seemed well prepared for every question. The glaring exception is the lack of an answer on packing the supreme court. The Senator had a better answer prepared than VP Biden that she executed decently but she didn’t answer the question and VP Pence scored big with his attack there. Overall Senator Harris had a great night and I think her campaign will be very happy with how tonight went.
So Who Won?
Again, for very different reasons, no one. If anyone came out ahead I would say it was Vice President Pence just because he may have had something to gain by presenting a clear and cohesive message to voters. That said this was a very standard VP debate and like it’s predecessors I doubt it will move the needle very much. Both candidates did a good job and even though the only thing to come of it may be Debate Fly halloween costumes, I still think we all needed this.