If you watched the 2020 Vice Presidential Debate, then you know that it was a lot more orderly than the Presidential Debate between Biden and Trump in late September 2020, although it had its moments. The VP Debate was held in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah’s Kingsbury Hall.
Former Attorney General for the State of California, Senator Kamala Harris, walked onto the stage wearing all Black everything, from her pants suit to the shirt she wore underneath her blazer. The current sitting Vice President of the United States and former Governor of Indiana, Mike Pence, wore a dark suit and, according to Racked, the historical symbol of power and aggression that’s been worn by presidents and other historical leaders over decades, the color red, in his “power” tie.
USA Today’s Washington Bureau Chief, Susan Page, was the 2020 Vice Presidential Debate’s Moderator. Over the years, Susan has covered stories in war zones and foreign countries numerous times. She had a chance to respond about her experience as moderator in an interview. “Well, first of all the candidates got two minutes uninterrupted to answer the original question that I posed to them,” she said. “And, when that time ran out, they could see on their camera a yellow light at 30 seconds, and a red light. When their time was up, I would count to three to give them time to finish, and then I began to say ‘Thank you, Mr. Vice President’ or ‘Thank you, Senator Harris’, thinking it would prompt them to stop. It didn’t always prompt them to stop, so I had to say it over and over again.”
One of the most important things that was pointed out about the debate came from ABC News Contributor and former Democratic Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emmanuel, and it basically paints a picture of the relationship between Trump and Pence versus the relationship between Biden and Harris. “Kamala Harris showed that she would be a partner with Joe Biden,” he said, “She called him ‘Joe’. Pence said he was going to be a ‘loyal soldier’…very different types of Vice Presidents.”
Harris vs Pence on Coronavirus in the 2020 VP Debate
When it came to the issues, Coronavirus was at the top of the list. “They knew what was happening and they didn’t tell you,” said Senator Harris as she looked directly into the camera. “The American people have witnessed what has been the greatest failure of any Presidential Administration in the history of our country…can you imagine on January 28th as opposed to March 13th, if you knew what they knew, to prepare?…they still don’t have a plan. Well, Joe Biden does. And our plan is about what we need to do around a national strategy for contact tracing, for testing, for administration of the vaccine, and making sure that it will be free for all.”
Pence was then asked why the death toll from the Coronavirus in the United States is higher than that of any other country. “Before there were even five cases in the United States,” he began, “President Donald Trump did what no other American President had ever done, and that was he suspended all travel from China, the second largest economy in the world. Senator Joe Biden opposed that decision…that decision alone by President Trump bought us invaluable time to stand up the greatest national mobilization since World War II, and I believe it saved hundreds of thousands of lives…”
Harris vs Pence on the U.S. Economy in the 2020 VP Debate
Moderator Susan Page gave Senator Harris the first question on the economy. “On the issue of the economy,” Harris responded, “Joe Biden believes you measure the health and the strength of America’s economy based on the health and the strength of the American worker and the American family. On the other hand, you have Donald Trump, who measures the strength of the economy based on how rich people are doing, which is why he passed the tax bill benefiting the top 1% and the biggest corporations of America, leading to a two trillion dollar deficit that the American people are going to have to pay for. On day one, Joe Biden will repeal that tax bill…”
Pence was then asked about the latest economic reports. “When President Trump and I took office,” he began, “America had gone through the slowest economic recoveries since the great depression. It was when Joe Biden was Vice President that they tried to tax, and spend, and regulate and bail our way back to a growing economy. President Trump cut taxes across the board. Despite what Senator Harris says, the average American family of four had $2,000 in savings, in taxes.”
Who Won the VP Debate Between Harris and Pence?
Both Vice Presidential candidates took talking points, and answered the questions only mostly, not fully. And, although Pence went over his two minute limit several times (and did a little interrupting), Harris stopped him by saying “Excuse me, I’m speaking”, and continuing with the thought that she was trying to portray successfully.
There is really never an announced winner in a Presidential or a Vice Presidential Debate. The ultimate winner is not of the debate, but of the upcoming 2020 Presidential Election, which is less than a month away.
