Vice presidential debate packing little excitement
Pence versus Kaine may be least-watched face-off in 40 years
Psst, there is another debate on Tuesday.
No, not between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. They do not suit back up in their gladiatorial armor until next Sunday.
This one is between their running mates, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana and Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. Voters maybe forgiven for barely knowing of it, or allotting it little space on their mental hard drives, because of the incendiary flashes tossed into the race daily from the top of the tickets, especially by Trump.
The meeting of Pence, a Republican, and Kaine, a Democrat, two pensive and little-knownnominees, might be the least anticipated vice presidential debate in 40 years.
“You’re essentially following AliFrazier a few days later with a nationally televised book club,” said Tucker Martin, a Republican strategist in Richmond, Va., about an hour from the campus of Longwood University, where the vice presidential debate will take place.
There are several reasons for the lack of excitement, which could rival previous low-interest debates like Al Gore versus Jack Kemp in 1996. That one drew the fewest television viewers, 26.6 million, of any matchup since the first vice presidential debate in 1976.
Neither of this year’s vice presidential candidates was a national figure at the time he was selected, unlike many past nominees. Neither has set off a media feeding frenzy like previous nominees such as Geraldine A. Ferraro, the first woman on a major party ticket, in 1984 or Sarah Palin, who became a lightning rod for critics in 2008.
Pence and Kaine are both white men in their late 50s, with solid governing résumés, but little reputation beyond their home states. They were safe choices picked in part because they would not detract from the top of the ticket.
“I am boring,” Kaine said shortly before being selected. Pence introduced himself at the Republican National Convention “to those of you who don’t know me, which is most of you.”
Some strategists have said the debate should draw more attention because Pence and Kaine are the understudies for candidates who, if elected, would be the oldest president ever to take office (Trump) or the second oldest (Clinton).
“Trump has so elevated the interest in any kind of political theater that a debate that doesn’t have a Trump-like figure by comparison becomes incredibly less entertaining, sadly,” said Dan Senor, a senior adviser to Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin in 2012, when Ryan was Mitt Romney’s running mate.
Since the conventions in late July, neither Pence nor Kaine has returned to the headlines they received when they were selected. Google Trends shows that interest in the two vice presidential candidates has flatlined at close to zero.
“Kaine-Pence will most likely produce a very substantive and policy-driven debate, so it’s a real shame there isn’t more interest,” Martin, the Republican strategist, said. “But, hey, once you’ve reduced a presidential campaign to just another reality TV show, you reap what you sow.”
“You’re essentially following Ali-Frazier a few days later with a nationally televised book club.” Tucker Martin, Republican strategist