Tim Kaine and Mike Pence have not been the most attention-grabbing vice presidential nominees in recent history, to say the very least. So their debate Tuesday night may be something of an introduction even to people who watched their convention speeches in July—a “hey, there’s that guy we spent a night making dad jokes about” moment when it comes to Kaine and an “oh, right, the Republican central casting sent to Trump to make his ticket look serious” moment for Pence.
Both men have served in Congress (Kaine is now in the Senate and Pence was in the House from 2001 to 2013) and as governors (Pence in Indiana right now, and Kaine in Virginia from 2006 to 2010). Both men put faith at the center of their politics and their personas.
The First Read crew is not wrong about the key challenge each man faces: Pence needs to dodge all the outlandish stuff Donald Trump has been saying and doing—the week of attacking a beauty queen for having gained weight, the 3 AM tweetstorms, the Muslim ban, the wall, and so much more—and try to pretend this is your average, every-four-years face-off between Generic Republican and Generic Democrat. Or, better, between Generic Republican and evil Hillary Clinton. And Kaine has to stop him:
While Pence certainly has the harder task tonight, don't think that Democrat Tim Kaine's is simple. Every time that Pence will want to talk about traditional issues, Kaine will have to turn the conversation back to Trump. "No, let's talk about fat-shaming." "Let's talk about the Muslim ban." "Let's talk about Trump not releasing his taxes." Kaine can't let Pence normalize the debate.
To serve his goal, Pence has planned a series of attacks on Kaine, and will doubtless air all the usual attacks on Hillary Clinton. The question is which picture of the race will prevail: the picture as it is, and as we see it every time Trump opens his mouth? Or a sanitized version—the race as establishment Republicans wish it was?
The vice presidential debate will be held Tuesday, October 4, from 9:30 to 10:30 PM ET and will air on both broadcast and cable news channels.
Voter Registration deadlines are coming up. Make sure that you are registered by checking here. #KnowYourStatus