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After a disgraceful first presidential debate, in which a majority of the public would agree neither candidate won, there were higher hopes entering into the vice presidential debate. Thankfully, I was not disappointed by either candidate’s performance. Both Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris hold strong political opinions and held their own in the debate. However, I believe that Pence’s approach made him the victor of this debate.

Unlike the first presidential debate, both candidates tonight acted like a potential vice president should act. They mostly answered the questions given to them and respectfully waited their turns to speak. Viewers were able to hear the questions being asked without commentary from the other debater. They did not cut each other off and waste the public’s time.

Each candidate took on a different approach in their debate styles. While Pence opted for a calm methodical approach, similar to former Vice President Joe Biden last week, Harris decided on a more offensive approach, attacking the Trump administration. Harris’ past role as Attorney General of California may be part of the reason why she decided to be so confrontational.

While this approach may have worked well against many adversaries, Pence was able to dodge a majority of questions directed at him, including whether he and Trump have discussed how they would take on the challenge of Trump being the oldest president to be inaugurated. His slow spoken, well thought out answers made me forget at times that he was not answering the question directed at him, a political skill that both presidential candidates lack.

Harris chose to confront most of the answers straight on, though Pence did call her out on quite a few of her answers. For instance, Harris claimed that the Biden/Harris administration would not increase taxes on families or individual citizens making $400,000 or less a year. Pence refuted this statement, pointing out that Biden himself has advocated for increasing taxes on numerous occasions. In answer to a different question, Harris attempted to deflect answering and Pence called her out saying “let the record reflect that she did not answer the question”.

When Pence was pressed for time and unable to respond to one of Harris’s answers he still made sure to go back to the question and respond, even when they had moved on. This was a unique move, not commonly made during debates, but seemed to serve Pence’s purposes effectively.

Although both vice presidential candidates clearly held themselves better than last week’s presidential candidates, I believe that Pence did a better job answering the questions thrown at him and holding his own, even against a strong opponent like Harris.

Skylar Swart is a sophomore political science major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at saswart@syr.edu. She can be followed on Twitter at @SkylarSwart.

Published on October 8, 2020 at 12:04 am