Did VP debate 2020 fail to live up to the hype? A look at Pence's 'slow jazz' show against 'conservative' Harris
The most memorable moment to remember from the vice presidential debate between VP Mike Pence and his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris for most people was a black fly sitting on his white hair. Not the California Senator attacking Pence on how poorly his running mate's administration had handled the pandemic. Not the vice president going after the ineffectiveness of the Affordable Care Act. It was a fly.
This kind of drove home the anti-climactic point that despite the TV-watching audience actually being able to hear both the candidates participating in the debate arguing in coherent sentences, unlike the trainwreck that was the first presidential face-off, it did not really help much given the fact that neither Pence nor Harris were actually principal candidates in the race and instead, mere mouthpieces of their running mates' campaigns.
Politico rightly reviewed the debate in an article that was titled, 'That Debate Was a Bucket of Warm You-Know-What.' Explaining why the debate failed to live up to all the hype and anticipation that led up to the big day, the outlet stated, "The age and possible infirmity of two presidential nominees in their seventies would supposedly infuse this clash of running mates with a special gravity. That was a valiant effort at pre-game hype, but it was quickly demolished by the reality of the encounter. Neither Vice President Pence nor Senator Harris could escape the fundamental dynamic of the job they are seeking: The vice presidency is by definition minimizing."
During the 90-minute showdown in Salt Lake City, Pence rarely held to his allocated time the other rules and avoided giving direct answers to most of the questions from the debate moderator Susan Page, Harris was forced to interrupt Pence with “Mr. Vice President, I am still speaking" as he continued to speak over her arguments.
Pence's 'slow jazz' performance
The vice president, as expected, behaved in contrast to the boisterous President Donald Trump, acting as if he was addressing an audience that was watching him in the White House than up on a debate stage. Although he was more chatty than his usual self, he was smooth in his answers, or as CBS News’ John Dickerson said, “He did a ‘slow jazz’ kind of interruption as opposed to Donald Trump’s version… As they teach you in debate school, you answer the question you want to, not the one that’s asked.” He even acknowledged what an “honor” it was for him to be onstage with the first woman of color on a national ticket before they began the debate.
Kamala Harris' 'conservative' performance
Harris' attacking demeanor that came out in the Democratic primaries against her now-running mate Joe Biden, was absent from the debate stage on Wednesday as Harris was content with just saying “thank you Vice-President Pence” repeatedly as she attempted to rein in her opponent. She did have a strong start though, saying, “The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any Presidential administration in the history of our country. They knew and they covered it up."
Harris Vs. Pence 2024
What it seemed like the vice presidential debate was, more than anything else, was an audition by both Harris and Pence of what their 2024 presidential tickets would look like. They may as well run for the Oval Office after four years regardless of which of their running mates comes out victorious this year.