Round Two: What to Expect from Tuesday’s Vice Presidential Debate
On September 26th, sparks flew as both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump attacked the other on issues ranging from free trade and the DNC email leak to Alicia Machado and Mr. Trump’s comments towards her. While the first debate produced many quotable moments and left many of us scratching our heads, the vice presidential debate between Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence looks to be the polar opposite, focusing more on specific policy platforms while the candidates attempt to defend those at the top of the ticket.
As Brett O’Donnell, a Republican strategist who advised George W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney, explained, “Don’t screw up — that’s the point of a V.P. debate.” He makes an interesting point. The idea of the V.P. debate is to promote each candidate’s qualifications, while defending the flaws of those at the top of the ticket.
For Mike Pence, the latter remains extremely important. Given all the controversial comments that Mr. Trump has made even before his campaign ever began, it is up to Governor Pence to assert Trump’s positions, and clean up the mess that the Republican nominee has left behind for him.
Senator Tim Kaine’s job will be to go on the offensive. With many believing that Secretary Clinton won the first presidential debate by a landslide, the momentum falls on the side of the Democratic nominee, thus leaving him with less ground to make up than his Republican counterpart. It will be his job to continue the strategy that Hillary Clinton showcased during her debate on September 26th: to paint Donald Trump as an unstable individual not suited for political office. According to Senator Kaine himself, the debate “really is more about Donald Trump than it is about Governor Pence.”
Neither of the candidates are truly exciting and were safe choices by both candidates because they didn’t take any momentum away from those at the top of the ticket. Ultimately, it’s more likely that viewers will be witnessing Kaine and Pence’s efforts at damage control than a focus on the individual V.P. candidates’ policy views.
