Thoughts on the Vice Presidential debate
Oct. 4th, 2016 10:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edschweppeWell, that wasn't nearly as a mess as last week's Trump/Clinton debate, but tonight's debate between Tim Kaine and Mike Pence didn't really add much to my knowledge about either man. One thing I did learn is that both men have sons in the USMC.
A few things I did note:
1) Pence clearly was having trouble handling the criticism of Trump; at least six times Kaine asked Pence to defend some particular thing Trump had said and every time Pence changed the subject.
2) I think Kaine did a better job of speaking in general; Pence kept repeating ObamaCare, "War on Coal," "weak and feckless" phrases as if they were magic.
3) Pence twice tried to refer to Russian president Vladimir Putin as a "small man"; Kaine used that to bring up how Trump had praised Putin, had his cronies running his campaign, etc. Similarly, when Pence tried to bring up Clinton Foundation and "pay-to-play", Kaine used that to segue into comparison with Trump Foundation; CF is higher-rated that American Red Cross, TF made illegal campaign contributions. (Missed a chance to needle Pence on Trump's fundraising emails to European MPs, alas.)
3) Moderator Elaine Quijano kept things moving along, but both Pence and Kaine talked all over her time and time again. (That said, neither man was throwing Trump-like tantrums, and they usually apologized when called out for interrupting.)
Overall, I doubt this debate was a disaster for the Trump campaign, but it certainly wasn't a great success for them. Considering that there's only a month before the election, this debate has to count as a Clinton/Kaine win.
Now to see what the "professional" pundits think ...
A few things I did note:
1) Pence clearly was having trouble handling the criticism of Trump; at least six times Kaine asked Pence to defend some particular thing Trump had said and every time Pence changed the subject.
2) I think Kaine did a better job of speaking in general; Pence kept repeating ObamaCare, "War on Coal," "weak and feckless" phrases as if they were magic.
3) Pence twice tried to refer to Russian president Vladimir Putin as a "small man"; Kaine used that to bring up how Trump had praised Putin, had his cronies running his campaign, etc. Similarly, when Pence tried to bring up Clinton Foundation and "pay-to-play", Kaine used that to segue into comparison with Trump Foundation; CF is higher-rated that American Red Cross, TF made illegal campaign contributions. (Missed a chance to needle Pence on Trump's fundraising emails to European MPs, alas.)
3) Moderator Elaine Quijano kept things moving along, but both Pence and Kaine talked all over her time and time again. (That said, neither man was throwing Trump-like tantrums, and they usually apologized when called out for interrupting.)
Overall, I doubt this debate was a disaster for the Trump campaign, but it certainly wasn't a great success for them. Considering that there's only a month before the election, this debate has to count as a Clinton/Kaine win.
Now to see what the "professional" pundits think ...