The debate went much as I predicted in my prior post. Pence was dollars ahead on style. His talk show experience was evident. On that front Kaine was worse than I expected. His stock in trade is likability. As a good soldier he aggressively charged forward in a way that some, such as Biden, can bring off, but not Kaine. He was ill served by the campaign.
Not unexpectedly, even with a CNN poll that had more Democratic respondents, Pence won 48 to 42. But Kaine, who lost the battle, may yet win the war. Pence was calm and presidential. Many in the GOP may take some solace about the bottom of their ticket, and even envision him as a future nominee. Pence helped Pence.
Pence was not a good soldier. He was too busy bucking for a promotion. He did little to defend Trump. Denying he or Trump made various statements, helped sweeten his night, but will sour the day. He lied. Every crazy statement Kaine attributed to Trump was true and verifiable. Pence's hawkish foreign policy positions were inconsistent with the belligerent dove, at the top of the ticket.
Pence won the night on style points, Kaine will edge him tomorrow on truth and substance. The result will be no change, which is good for Hillary.
My post today:
ReplyDeleteVP Debate
Most are saying that Pence won the debate. I disagree. Unless of course, lies don't matter. If a debate winner is decided by calm presentation, I'll admit Pence won. If a debate is decided by facts and an honest presentation of what a candidate stands for, Pence lost, badly. Maybe Kaine kept interrupting because Pence was lying just about every time he opened his mouth. Pence's statements were so full of provable lies I can't imagine anyone could take him seriously. No surprise since we are living in a fake image society. Facts don't matter as long as you look good and sound good, even if you are insulting and lying. It's a mystery to me why Trump is so popular. I guess I don't live in an image society. I'm old fashioned. I believe facts and honestly stating policy positions should win a debate.
Thanks for your comment Luke.
DeleteUnfortunately, many if not most undecided voters are low information voters. For them style may mean more than lies that they will not recognize as such.
Delete