The Vice Presidential Debate

By: Will Henry Hosking

The debate between Vice President Mike Pence and the Democratic challenger Kamala Harris on October 7th was more civil and less controversial than the first presidential debate. Held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, this debate had both candidates seated at desks, with plexiglass shields between them, as a Covid-19 precaution. When compared to the recent presidential debate, a shouting match filled with personal insults and incomprehensible noise, the VP debate seemed somewhat civil.

Senator Harris came out swinging, telling voters that Trump and Pence knew of the virus early on and yet failed to act accordingly. Pence was immediately put on the defensive, stating that he and Trump had been on it from “day one”.

Vice President Pence had the job of defending the president's actions, while Senator Harris had to reassure those watching that she and Biden were not socialists. Both had their work cut out for them, in trying to reassure swing voters, a key to victory for both sides.

Vice President Pence posited that Senator Harris would put environmental regulations in place, and would also raise taxes. Harris said she and Biden would not ban fracking and would not raise taxes for anyone making less than 400,000 dollars a year. Pence had to defend President Trump's coronavirus response and how Trump acted in the first presidential debate, which reportedly lost a lot of support for the president’s campaign, especially among white suburban women, a key base for Trump, and a much needed asset if he wants to win reelection.

On an unexpected and slightly more comical note, a fly landed on Vice President Pence’s head at one point, and crawled around for a couple minutes. This has since been the source of many memes on social media, and presidential candidate Joe Biden’s web site subsequently sold out of 15,000 fly swatters.

Overall, it was an interesting debate to see where the VP candidates stand, but the debate did not appear to do much for either side, and both sides still have a lot of work to do in order to win the election.