Debate sheds little light on campaign
WASHINGTON: Vicepresident Mike Pence’s job yesterday was to seem reasonable and reassuring after days of uncertainty stoked by United States President Donald Trump, who shook voters with his own combative debate performance last week and then alarmed the nation with his positive test for coronavirus.
By that measure, then, Pence’s performance in the televised debate with his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, achieved its goal.
Harris landed her toughest attack early, calling Trump’s handling of the virus ‘‘the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country’’.
Pence sought to defend the administration’s coronavirus response with a selective retelling of key facts, leaning heavily on Trump’s decision to ban travel from China.
At other key moments, Pence managed to put Harris on the back foot and she evaded answering whether Democrats would expand the Supreme Court or implement the socalled Green New Deal climate plan, unlikely to play well in key swing states like Pennsylvania.
But a vicepresident merely hitting his marks will not be enough to change the dynamic in a race where Republicans trail so badly.
Democrat Joe Biden’s lead has grown to nine points on average in national polls, and Trump has had to take a hiatus from active campaigning to fight Covid19.
Either Trump (74) or Biden (77) would be the oldest man sworn in as president if elected. That notion, mentioned early on by moderator Susan Page of Today, also reminded viewers that both the people on stage could well be gearing up for presidential campaigns of their own in 2024.
Harris, a veteran of a halfdozen Democratic primary debates, scored points of her own: first, on the pandemic effort — ‘‘clearly it hasn’t worked’’ — and then by demonstrating empathy for workers grappling with the economic destruction wreaked by the virus.
Pence’s propensity for speaking in lengthy, scripted soundbites proved largely effective, but his refusal to yield to Harris or Page also risked further alienating his ticket in the eyes of female voters his campaign desperately needs to win back.
He appeared to revel in opportunities to focus criticisms of the Democratic platform that have received little air time in a contest that has largely been fought over Trump’s temperament and record.
None of the moments — except, perhaps, a twominute interlude when a fly landed on top of Pence’s closely cropped hair — seemed likely to resonate for long in a presidential election where voters are much more interested in the top of the ticket. — TCA