WASHINGTON: The vice-presidential debate was never going to be about them, both Tim Kaine, the Democratic nominee, and Mike Pence, the Republican, must have known. It was to be about their respective running mates. And so it was.
And mostly about Donald Trump, who Pence was pushed to defend by a combative Kaine again, and on an entire range of issues — from his refusal to release his tax returns to not paying taxes at all to remarks about women, Mexicans, Muslims, African Americans, nuclear bombs, and Vladimir Putin.
Silver-haired Pence, who was such a contrast to Trump in style, manners and demeanour, gave back as well, bringing up Clinton’s use of a private email server, the Clinton Foundation and her record as secretary of state. That was expected.
While the outcome of Tuesday will be debated for days to come, based on polls, a narrative had begun to take shape clearly with a few minutes of the candidates leaving the stage — Pence, who had clearly impressed everyone, had not been an effective defender of his running mate.
Here is how exchange played out. “Donald Trump cannot start a Twitter war with Miss Universe without shooting himself in the foot,” Kaine said. “He does not have a plan. He said, ‘I have a secret plan’, and then he said, ‘I know more than all the generals about ISIL (another name for Islamic State)’, and finally he said, ‘I am going to fire all the generals’. He trash talks the military...John McCain is no hero, NATO is obsolete.”
{{/usCountry}}Here is how exchange played out. “Donald Trump cannot start a Twitter war with Miss Universe without shooting himself in the foot,” Kaine said. “He does not have a plan. He said, ‘I have a secret plan’, and then he said, ‘I know more than all the generals about ISIL (another name for Islamic State)’, and finally he said, ‘I am going to fire all the generals’. He trash talks the military...John McCain is no hero, NATO is obsolete.”
{{/usCountry}}“He has a personal Mount Rushmore of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, and Saddam Hussein,” he added.
Pence shot back, brightly, “that had a lot of creative lines in it,” and proceeded to offer a response that was a standard Republican critique of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy — and by extension of Clinton, his one-time secretary of state.
But he did not defend Trump, not adequately.