Last night, Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice-President Mike Pence met for the only VP debate scheduled for this election cycle. Today, I began reading social media posts from people who were happy that, at least, the debate was civil. To call last night’s debate civil just reminds me how low the bar has been set.
The debate was not civil. There might not have been any yelling, but there was certainly a ton of bullying. It was obvious from the get go that Mike Pence was not happy to be sharing the stage with two women. I would assume this has to do with his extreme evangelical views on the relationships between men and women.
This attitude also showed in his extreme disrespect for moderator Susan Page. Time and time again, Mike Pence just steamrolled over her attempts to cut him off when his time expired. Pence did not even acknowledge her attempts, but rather, just kept talking until he completed whatever thought he had. The most annoying part was that the thought usually had nothing to do with the question he was asked by the moderator.
I have to give credit to Kamala Harris for maintaining her composure and not biting into Pence’s obvious attempts to goad her into confrontation. Had she done so, Pence would have taken it as a victory akin to Trump’s attitude when he was able to goad Biden into confrontation. Harris was actually able to shut Pence down more than once when she would say, “Excuse me, I’m talking.” Pence was obviously upset when this happened.
Susan Page was not effective at all in reigning Pence in. Nor was she able to keep him “on topic,” no matter how hard she tried. The phrase, “Thank you, Mr. Vice-President…” became a common, and very annoying, refrain during the entire debate.
The first noticeable thing about Mike Pence was his left eye. It appeared that he had some form of conjunctivitus. This was concerning as it is a symptom of Covid-19. Given the current White House outbreak, the assumption of Covid must be forgiven. According to press reports today, his red eye was the result of a broken blood vessel. Maybe this is true, maybe not. This administration is not known for the truth.
The debate started with a discussion about Covid. Harris called out the administration’s response. Pence stated that they did the best job ever and claimed that it would have been worse had Biden been in charge.
The question was asked as to whether Presidential health information should be public. Harris stated that it should and then landed a solid body blow against Pence by noting that tax information should be public as well. The American people have a right to know who Trump is in debt to and whether his decisions were in the interest of the US or his own due to the debt. Pence claimed Trump paid millions in taxes and was transparent with his financial disclosures. Of course, he spoke past his allotted time and over the moderator.
The next topic was economic recovery. Is the recovery as good as the Trump administration says it is. Pence stated that tariffs have helped the economy and Trump’s tax cuts helped the average American over corporate interests. Pence bulldozed over the moderator when his time ran out.
Harris used her comments to insinuate that Pence was lying without actually saying it. Pence cut her off. Harris did not bite into the obvious attempt to goad her into confrontation. When she started her statements again, Pence attempted to speak over her again. She cut him off and told him she was speaking. She also noted that Trump has tried to take credit for the recovery that Obama and Biden put into place during the recession.
Climate change was the next segment. Pence went out of his way to claim that there were no more hurricanes right now than any time in modern history. He completely glossed over the fact that hurricanes are growing more devastating due to climate change. He state the US was better off outside the Paris Climate Accord. He stated that Biden would abolish fossil fuels. He stated that forest management would fix massive forest fires. He bulldozed over Susan Page’s attempts to reign him in on time.
This is where Harris was at her weakest point during the debate. Instead of talking about Biden’s ideas, she just went into defensive modes discussing what Biden wasn’t. Also, while they both argued about how Biden would not end fracking, this would have been a time to talk about whether fracking should be banned.
Harris called out Trump for losing the trade war with China, and the losses to American manufacturing. Pence stated that Biden would not have the guts to fight a trade war. Givne the damage, I hope Biden won’t fight a trade war.
Both candidates traded shots over American global leadership. They traded shots over the military and Harris landed a good shot with Russian bounties and traumatic brain injuries in soldiers. The moderator attempted to move onto other subjects, but Pence refused and stated he would respond to Harris. He bulldozed over her again by running over the time she allotted in exasperation.
This was the tenor for the rest of the debate. Pence would tout the administration line on the Supreme Court, the shooting of Breonna Taylor, and Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacy. This was where Harris was at he strongest. She stated that justice was not done by the Taylor grand jury. She told Pence she would not be lectured by him, given her past as a prosecutor and the Attorney General of California.
The subject finally came up about the peaceful transfer of power. As VP, what would Pence do should Trump refuse to leave? He completely sidestepped the question by stating, and repeating, that Trump would win. Harris discussed the coalition of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans that backed Biden. Trump would not be allowed to subvert democracy.
All-in-all, it was a far more substantive debate than the first Presidential debate, but this is the lowest bar that can be set. The most entertaining part of the debate was the fly that took up residence in Pence’s hair for about two minutes. That fly now has a Twitter account. Either it was showing support for it’s preferred candidate, or, it was shitting in Pence’s hair. I would like to think the latter.