Sparks fly yet again in the vice-presidential debate as we continue through, perhaps, the most historic presidential election in our nation’s history.
On Oct. 4, 2016, running-mates for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and Republican nominee Donald Trump, took to the debate stage – Tim Kaine for Clinton, and Mike Pence for Trump.
For this overview, I’ll only be looking at the performances of Kaine and Pence, and will only call attention to Clinton and Trump’s respective records if relevant.
Seeing as how it was Kaine who began the debate, I will begin this overview with his performance.
Kaine: I would never have imagined in all my life that I would see another individual interrupt their opponent more times than Trump, but Kaine did it. Throughout the debate Kaine clocked in 4 and a half minutes of interrupting Pence. Many people found Trump’s interruptions in the first debate to be abrasive and disrespectful, and Kaine interrupting Pence will not serve him any more favors than it did Trump.
That being said, Kaine did very well overall. He relentlessly attacked both Pence and Trump’s record throughout their campaign, and kept Pence on his back foot.
Kaine attacked Pence’s comment that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is a better leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in the U.S., “Vladimir Putin has run his economy into the ground, he persecutes LGBT folks, and journalists. If you don’t know the difference between dictatorship and leadership, then you gotta go back to a 5th grade civics class,” Kaine said.
He then also related his and Clinton’s immigration and foreign policy plans to those of former President Ronald Reagan, who’s possibly the most renowned president among Republicans, a move which may bring a few right-wing voters who are one the fence into the Clinton camp.
Pence: Pence was also guilty of interrupting Kaine, although not nearly as much, and he resigned himself mostly to simply shaking his head at Kaine’s comments. What Pence had going for him was a strong and cool presence. His tone conveyed strength, and he hit Kaine hard on his and Clinton’s immigration plan.
Kaine said that he and Clinton believe in comprehensive immigration reform. Pence replied that “The Union for Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the first time in their history endorsed Donald Trump to be the next president … what you just heard is they (Clinton and Kaine) have a plan for open borders, amnesty. They call it comprehensive immigration reform on Capitol Hill we all know the routine, it’s amnesty.”
He also set the record straight when Kaine falsely quoted Trump of saying that Mexican illegal-immigrants are murderers and rapists. Pence corrected Kaine and said that Trump only said some, and that many were good people.
However, Pence’s inability to defend Trump on numerous issues, such as saying that Saudi Arabia, Japan, and South Korea should have nuclear weapons, cost him big points in the debate.
Winner/Loser: At the end of the night, it was Kaine who came out as the winner of the debate. Although his interruptions may cost him points with the voters, Pence’s inability to address Kaine’s attacks will serve as momentum for Clinton.
Democrats tagged a win, but the 2016 election continues.