Full Video: Watch Pence and Kaine in the VP Debate

Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence came together for the one and only 2016 Vice Presidential debate which took place at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. The debate was moderated by Elaine Quijano, a correspondent of CBS News.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Vice Presidential Debate from Longwood University

VP Candidates: Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine
Moderator: Elaine Quijano, a correspondent of CBS News.
Transcript: Washington Post

Full Video:

Here’s a rundown on the debate from CNN:

Tim Kaine and Mike Pence were on the debate stage Tuesday but their clash really centered on two other people: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Kaine, Clinton’s running mate, said that for him and his wife, who have a son deployed overseas as a Marine, “the thought of Donald Trump as commander in chief scares us to death.”
He hammered Trump over his temperament, accused him of pursuing an “outrageous lie” over claims President Barack Obama was not born in the United States and condemned him for calling Mexicans criminals and rapists in his announcement speech last year.

Pence didn’t hesitate to defend the controversial candidate at the top of the GOP ticket. He defended Trump by trying to turn the focus back on Clinton, accusing her family’s foundation of accepting donations from foreign governments while she was secretary of state and slamming her over the private email server she used while in office. Pence argued that Kaine was a fitting running mate for Clinton because he had tried, but failed, to raise taxes while serving as Virginia Governor.

I had reasonably high expectations for the substance of this debate, though I came away disappointed in several ways. The moderator lost control of the debate right from the begining and Tim Kaine kept constantly interrupting during Pence’s time to speak. Some may argue that it’s good to control the narrative, but I think Kaine went a bit overboard in how often he was letting things fly which started to seem very disrespectful. Pence, on the other hand, was arguably too quiet at times, though he remained steady during the entire 90 minutes.

All things considered, I think Pence did a good job for his ticket and I’d give him the nod for perhaps earning the most points from this debate. However, in the grand sceheme of things, vice presidential debates rarely matter in changing the minds of voters. The real task for Trump/Pence is for Donald Trump to come out with a stronger performance against Hillary Clinton this Sunday night for the second presidential debate. Neither candidate lost ground tonight so I’d say the result is the race continues as it stands.