US vice-president candidates face off: what to expect

[webfact]

US vice-president candidates face off: what to expect

 

 

WASHINGTON: -- With just five weeks left in the US presidential race, on Tuesday night it is the turn of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s vice-presidential picks to win over voters.

 

Washington correspondent Dr Stefan Grobe has the low-down on what to expect.

 

“All eyes are turning to Farmville, Virginia, tonight where Republican Indiana governor Mike Pence and Democratic Virginia senator Tim Kaine will face off in the one and only vice presidential debate. Don’t expect any fireworks.

 

Here you have two white guys in their late 50s, scandal-free policy wonks who will likely deliver a sane and civilized conversation. Do the voters care?

 

Consider this: only one out of two Americans has actually heard about the VP candidates and the TV audience is expected to be only half as big as the one that followed the Trump-Clinton slugfest more than a week ago.

 

By all means, the VP debate is unlikely to affect the overall race. Trump is still playing defense on his taxes and Clinton is clearly ahead in the polls.”

 

Clinton’s poll boost came after what widely deemed her victory in the presidential debate last week, her running-mate Tim Kaine will want to follow her lead, while Mike Pence will likely face questions over his philosophical differences with Trump.

 

 

-- © Copyright Euronews 2016-10-05

[freebyrd]

Dare I say that to date they both seem preferable to their bosses, although I do think Pence has had more than a few nightmares already about his damage control role if Trump does win. Hair already white, he will perhaps be bald in 2 years.

[Shot]

“Yo boss is so fat, she got arrested at the airport for ten pounds of crack”

 

“Yo boss is so stupid that it took him 2 hours to watch 60 Minutes”

[Chicog]

Summed up well by the National review tweet:

Kaine policy: Lose debate but quote Trump a lot.
Pence policy: Win debate but don't defend Donald Trump.

Like watching an undercard fight, no-one really cares, it's just a filler until the title bout.

 

But it was at least reasonably civil between the two participants.

 

Very few, if any, of the questions received answers of any relevant substance.

 

[StevieH]

thought pence was good at flatly denying that everything trump has ever said or done actually happened. some skill that.

[ballpoint]

6 minutes ago, StevieH said:

thought pence was good at flatly denying that everything trump has ever said or done actually happened. some skill that.

Yep.  They won't get much change out of him.

[Silurian]

I watched all 90 minutes and would declare it a draw. Both sides did a good job of deflecting answers when they should have been talking policy. I got tired of Kaine bringing up Trump's taxes for the (n)th time. Yeah, we got it. Trump needs to release his tax returns. We all know that. Keep on spouting about it just makes you sound a little crazy. Oh and Pence, stop blaming the US woes on Obama and Hillary. We get your stance. Obama Bad. Hillary Bad. Trump Good. And if you didn't catch that the first ten times Pence said it. Here it is again. Obama Bad. Hillary Bad. Trump Good.

 

If I were to base it on who came across more professional, I would say Pence.

If I were to base it on who came across more likable, I would say Kaine.

 

The end of the debate was more telling. Afterwards, the two candidates and their families were all smiles and mingling together. You could see that they knew each other and probably for the most part liked each other. Both Kaine and Pence have similar backgrounds and are about the same age. I could see them as respectful adversaries. 

[klauskunkel]

What to expect? Their faces are already red...

[webfact]

Debate Takeaways: Kaine challenges Pence to defend Trump 
LISA LERER, Associated Press
ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press

 

FARMVILLE, Va. (AP) — Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine repeatedly challenged Mike Pence during Tuesday's vice presidential debate, attempting to tie the Indiana governor to some of Donald Trump's most controversial statements about women, immigrants and foreign policy. Trump's running mate maintained a folksy, soft-spoken demeanor, even as he mounted an uneven defense of the New York billionaire.

 

Rather than commenting on some of the GOP candidate's most inflammatory comments, Pence attempted to turn the attacks back on Kaine's running mate, Hillary Clinton, repeatedly questioning her trustworthiness and raising questions about her use of a private email server and her family's foundation.

 

The two men engaged in a surprisingly contentious back-and-forth on the debate stage at Longwood University, a 90-minute exchange that introduced two little-known politicians to the national stage.

Here are the top takeaways from Tuesday's vice presidential debate:

__

WHO'S ON STAGE?

Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump.

Most of the debate was dominated by people not on the stage: the presidential candidates. Rather than go after each other, the two men immediately took aim at the tops of their tickets.

In his first response, Kaine took aim at Trump, saying the idea of the Republican nominee as commander in chief "scares" his family "to death."

 

Pence shot back, saying Americans were right to question Clinton's trustworthiness, citing her use of a private email system while serving as secretary of state. "That's because they're paying attention," he said.

Neither Pence nor Kaine was pressed to defend any issues in their own records, including the policy differences they have with their running mates.

___

PENCE THE IGNORER

Kaine repeatedly tried to hold Pence accountable for Trump's most explosive statements, opening the debate by calling him "Donald Trump's apprentice."

 

Pence did defend Trump over a New York Times report that Trump may have avoided paying taxes for nearly two decades. Trump, said Pence, used the tax code "brilliantly" during a "tough time."

 

But for most of the debate, Pence simply turned the attacks back on Clinton, leaving hanging questions about Trump's criticisms of a federal judge, women and immigrants. Rather than defend Trump's foreign policy positions, he criticized Clinton's "weak and feckless leadership."

 

At one point, Pence said he is "happy to defend" Trump, but then moved on to a discussion about Russia without addressing numerous issues raised by Kaine.

 

Kaine kept a tally of Pence's dodges, announcing more than an hour into the debate that Pence had avoided defending Trump six times.

___

TRUMP'S SOFTER SIDE

Pence tried to turn the tables on the Democratic ticket by presenting Kaine and Clinton as offering an "avalanche of insults" and casting Trump in the model of a traditional GOP candidate.

 

After Kaine recounted a series of controversial statements Trump has made about President Barack Obama, Mexican immigrants, women and other groups, Pence wondered incredulously, "Ours is an insult-driven campaign?"

 

Pence offered softer rhetoric when describing the controversial policies at the core of Trump's campaign — his promises to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and an early vow to bar foreign Muslims from entering the U.S. He said Trump is eager to work across the aisle to toughen border security and support community policing.

 

"He's not a polished politician like you and Hillary Clinton," he said when Kaine raised Trump's statement that women should be punished for having abortions.

 

Even as Pence was defending Trump, however, the businessman was tweeting — and retweeting — insults. "Kaine looks like an evil crook out of the Batman movies," read one tweet that Trump re-posted to his account.

___

FEISTY VS. FOLKSY

The two vice presidential candidates took different approaches to the debate, with Kaine hectoring Pence on nearly every response. The Republican National Committee, eager to paint Clinton's typically easygoing number two as unlikable, kept a tally of over 70 interruptions.

 

Pence took a different tack. Between attacks, he sprinkled personal stories and promises to work across the aisle— even offering damning praise for Clinton and Kaine.

 

"Hillary Clinton and Senator Kaine — God bless you for it, career public servants, that's great — Donald Trump is a businessman, not a career politician," he said.

___

KAINE'S ZINGERS

Kaine came packing — zingers, that is. He lobbed so many prepared soundbites that Pence called out his "predone lines."

"Did you work on that one a long time? Because that had a lot of creative lines in it," Pence said at one point.

___

Lerer reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Julie Bykowicz contributed from Washington.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-10-05

[Chicog]

So while Kaine was talking about Trump's "Insult-driven campaign", Trump was tweeting:

"Kaine looks like an evil crook out of the Batman movies"

[nottocus]

I wish Pence was running for POTUS.

[stevenl]

Just ask the RNC. Before the debate started they already claimed Pence had won, and they also told us the reason was that he was so good on economy.

[Gecko123]

And they call Hillary Clinton robotic?   

 

My impression of Mike Pense (aka C-3PO):

 

Pivot….ernk.  Avoid answering question…ernk.  Shake head sady…ernk. Deny well-established facts…ernk. 

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2016 by Gecko123

[Pinot]

Pence's performance tonight mostly a reminder that "better candidate than Trump" is a low bar. 

[keemapoot]

VP debate? yawn.  

 

Quote

The first and only vice-presidential debate of 2016 was less a game-changer than a channel-changer, a snippy and probably inconsequential 90 minutes marginally won by Mike Pence

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/pence-kaine-debate-229169

[elgordo38]

Just more plain unadulterated unstrained BS Geeze Louise folks wake up. Its a freak show. We have been around the block so many times on this crap. A pox on all of them. 

Edited October 5, 2016 by elgordo38

[Chicog]

Thank god there's only one of them. Having said that, if you suffer from insomnia, there could be a rerun on tonight.

[Jingthing]

 I'll concede that Pence won (modestly). Won't impact on the election or harm either's future career prospects. They are both credible vice presidents but Pence's ideology is far right wing, if you like that sort of thing. 

 

Sums it up well (Washington Post):

 

Quote

Pence beats Kaine in ‘bland-to-bland combat’

 

Edited October 5, 2016 by Jingthing

[StevieH]

pence signed in a law that required women to give funerals to aborted foetuses. he's a lunatic.

 

he also seemed to disagree with many of his running mate's stances on issues. which makes you wonder how confident he actually is of winning the election.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, StevieH said:

pence signed in a law that required women to give funerals to aborted foetuses. he's a lunatic.

 

he also seemed to disagree with many of his running mate's stances on issues. which makes you wonder how confident he actually is of winning the election.

Exactly. Before he took the V.P. run he was very weak for winning reelection as governor. It was a smart career move for Pence to gain national visibility, win or lose, most likely lose.

[Linzz]

Refreshing. At least it was civil and they showed genuine respect if not even like for each other.If luck would have it someone might spring up and despatch the two POTUS contenders. At least then you could vote for someone you like rather than just voting against a candidate you dislike the most.Unguided missile mouth vs. devious manipulator. Your choice America, good luck rest of the world...

[Grouse]

I thought Kaine did well

 

Poor Pence just could not defend Trump

 

 

[Neurath]

Yawno - it's enough to make me want to watch Apprentice re-runs. They both have average hair and I'm pretty sure neither can tweet. Average taxpayers without hot wives an no hotels. Sleepy....

[dunroaming]

Somehow comforting to see that both VP candidates have dumbed themselves down to the level of their bosses.  No room in this election for anyone prepared to just stick to policies rather than sling mud.  To add to that the mud is the same old mud as before.  This is very tedious now

[Jingthing]

Now I have an alternative theory about why Hill picked Kaine. Could be a touch of assassination insurance ... people wouldn't want to be BORED to death. 

 

To be honest, I didn't actually watch this boring debate. I laid in bed, half asleep, and listened to it and based on what I heard I see no reason to bother ever watching it.

 

What were the ratings ... I'd be surprised if very high. 

 

Here today ... on to the next trump tweet eruption. 

Edited October 5, 2016 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

This is worth mentioning.

Because Pence is well known and notorious for being an EXTREMIST in opposing GLBT civil rights and that issue has been his most visible national controversy in his entire career, I was of course expecting there to be some time in the debate to talk about those issues.

What happened?

I suppose the Clinton campaign will need to spend money to get the info out on how horrible Pence is on this issue because it's a good issue, both for civil rights and for votes.

http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/10/04/not-calling-out-pences-homophobia-kaine-misses-millennial-moment

http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2016/10/04/lgbt-people-vp-debate-was-insulting

Edited October 5, 2016 by Jingthing

[keemapoot]

Quote

One good way to score the debate is to say that everybody won except for Donald Trump himself. What you make of that probably depends on how you think about political loyalty.

 

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kaine-pence-vice-presidential-debate-everybody-won-except-trump

 

Good summation

[Cory1848]

1 hour ago, Neurath said:

Yawno - it's enough to make me want to watch Apprentice re-runs. They both have average hair and I'm pretty sure neither can tweet. Average taxpayers without hot wives an no hotels. Sleepy....

 

Although Kaine himself was pretty hot when he was young.

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, Cory1848 said:

 

Although Kaine himself was pretty hot when he was young.

OK, made me look. Yeah, not bad.

 

[Linzz]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Now I have an alternative theory about why Hill picked Kaine. Could be a touch of assassination insurance ... people wouldn't want to be BORED to death. 

 

To be honest, I didn't actually watch this boring debate. I laid in bed, half asleep, and listened to it and based on what I heard I see no reason to bother ever watching it.

 

What were the ratings ... I'd be surprised if very high. 

 

Here today ... on to the next trump tweet eruption. 

 

JT I hope you're not getting a Trump dependency. What will happen if Trump loses and there's no more tweets and entertainment and it's just boring ole Hillary and getting bored to death? There will be a lot of post election anti climax blues and withdrawal rehab all around.

On the other hand if you deliberately vote Trump and he wins, years of blogging ahead. Think about it 

Edited October 5, 2016 by Linzz
Sp