{"id":84378,"date":"2020-10-08T07:22:26","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T04:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/mr-vice-president-im-speaking-five-takeaways-from-the-u-s-vp-debate\/"},"modified":"2020-10-08T07:22:26","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T04:22:26","slug":"mr-vice-president-im-speaking-five-takeaways-from-the-u-s-vp-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mr-vice-president-im-speaking-five-takeaways-from-the-u-s-vp-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"#&#8217;Mr. Vice President, I&#8217;m speaking:&#8217; Five takeaways from the U.S. VP debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dd1c633969\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dd1c633969\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mr-vice-president-im-speaking-five-takeaways-from-the-u-s-vp-debate\/#The_Trump_administration_truly_has_no_defence_of_its_performance_on_coronavirus\" >The Trump administration truly has no defence of its performance on coronavirus<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mr-vice-president-im-speaking-five-takeaways-from-the-u-s-vp-debate\/#Questions_left_unanswered_stand_out_more_than_ones_that_are_answered\" >Questions left unanswered stand out more than ones that are answered<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mr-vice-president-im-speaking-five-takeaways-from-the-u-s-vp-debate\/#Pence_can_only_carry_water_for_Trump_so_far\" >Pence can only carry water for Trump so far<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mr-vice-president-im-speaking-five-takeaways-from-the-u-s-vp-debate\/#Kamala_Harris_introduced_herself_wielding_a_shiv_with_a_smile\" >Kamala Harris introduced herself, wielding a shiv with a smile<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mr-vice-president-im-speaking-five-takeaways-from-the-u-s-vp-debate\/#All_eyes_were_on_2024_or_someday_sooner\" >All eyes were on 2024, or someday sooner<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#&#8217;Mr. Vice President, I&#8217;m speaking:&#8217; Five takeaways from the U.S. VP debate<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                            Kamala Harris combined assertiveness and ease, but both she and Mike Pence wriggled out of key questions. It was all so blessedly normal.\n                        <\/div>\n<div>\n                                                                        It was a debate so earnest, so conventional, so calm that you could almost hear a fly land. Or you could certainly fixate on that and nothing but for a while. The tedious cat-and-mouse <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> Mike Pence tried to play with Kamala Harris on a supposed fracking ban and tax hikes? It reminded you of the tedium of normal presidential and vice-presidential debates\u2014<em>oh, how we\u2019ve missed it over the last eight years.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>But there was more than cat, mice and flies during a 90-minute exchange that actually felt substantial. A few impressions:<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Trump_administration_truly_has_no_defence_of_its_performance_on_coronavirus\"><\/span>The Trump administration truly has no defence of its performance on coronavirus<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>What was the best the vice-president could do, when both his contender and moderator Susan Page repeatedly thrust into his face the jarring tally of 210,000 dead Americans, and other blunders of the last eight terrible months as the crisis unfolded in the U.S.? Highlight the leaky, ineffective ban on <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a> from China; thank the American people for their sacrifices; quibble that Joe Biden\u2019s campaign has plagiarized no-brainer plans to swiftly distribute a vaccine and focus on testing; hearken back to the far less deadly swine flu pandemic of 11 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>America\u2019s disproportionate share of the world\u2019s coronavirus death toll seems to have no rational excuse, and Pence made that plain. His insistence that the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>arent superspreader event where Trump introduced his Supreme Court nominee was fine because it was outdoors, and his invocation of \u201cfreedom!\u201d were flaccid. Pence is the head of the White House coronavirus task force, yet was helpless to safeguard the White House itself from the virus that will whip through a cluster of people when they gather with so little caution.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Trump has moved past even trying to excuse things and is now claiming the antibody cocktail he received in hospital <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/jackbrewster\/2020\/10\/07\/i-call-that-a-cure-trump-touts-regenerons-experimental-covid-treatment-promises-it-will-be-free\/#1ebedd1f3799\">is some kind of cure<\/a>. At least Pence didn\u2019t go there?<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Questions_left_unanswered_stand_out_more_than_ones_that_are_answered\"><\/span>Questions left unanswered stand out more than ones that are answered<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>This was chronic, on both sides. Each of these canny, experienced rhetoricians tried to wriggle out of corners and give only the responses they wanted, and it was glaring. Pence repeatedly declined to explain how the Trump administration will support Americans with pre-existing conditions while simultaneously trying to eradicate the Obamacare plan that created those protections, then dodged saying how he\u2019d comport himself if Trump refused to accept an election loss.<\/p>\n<p>Harris was in most cases more direct, but she conspicuously refused to explain her stance on the Green New Deal\u2014which <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/energy-and-environment\/21498236\/joe-biden-green-new-deal-debate\">Biden more forcefully said he opposed<\/a> amid last week\u2019s cacophony. Same went for a question on whether a Biden-Harris administration would add more judges to a conservative-tilted U.S. Supreme Court\u2014\u201dpacking\u201d the bench. Her evasions may wind up sticking in the campaign more than Pence\u2019s, because Pence strenuously tried to highlight them. The Trump campaign will likely do the same.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Pence_can_only_carry_water_for_Trump_so_far\"><\/span>Pence can only carry water for Trump so far<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Mike Pence doesn\u2019t really get \u201cspirited\u201d about much, certainly not in the way we\u2019ve seen other Republicans get in always-amped-past-11 Trump era. Before his nearly two decades in politics, he was a radio talk-show host\u00a0who called himself \u201cRush Limbaugh on decaf.\u201d He may now be best described as \u201cDonald Trump on some cocktail of Ritalin, Valium, under-steeped green tea and a nine-year Bible school intensive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He can\u2019t defend Trump in a Trumpish way, and sometimes he seems to be half-heartedly fighting for his boss; take the segment on the president\u2019s own taxes, where he passively cited Trump\u2019s complaint that the <em>New York Times<\/em> expos\u00e9 was phony rather than punching back himself; and when it came to lambasting Biden as a career politician, Pence referred to Biden\u2019s \u201c47 years in public service,\u201d which has a nice and generous ring to it.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Pence doesn\u2019t echo Trump in saying he wouldn\u2019t accept the results of a fair election, but instead he filibusters and faintly echoes his boss on vague insinuations of mail-in voter fraud. And on a last question about civility in politics, he didn\u2019t even bring up Donald Trump, while Harris pumped up Biden. That was a significant tell.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Kamala_Harris_introduced_herself_wielding_a_shiv_with_a_smile\"><\/span>Kamala Harris introduced herself, wielding a shiv with a smile<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Other than her moments of inartful dodging, Democrats will likely be delighted by their VP nominee\u2019s performance. She was constantly measured, she was determined to refrain from interrupting, yet she can wage an attack much more masterfully than Biden can. Her swipes at the \u201cincompetence\u201d and \u201cineptitude\u201d of the Trump White House on coronavirus conveyed bafflement and condemnation. \u201cThis administration has forfeited their right to reelection based on this,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n<p>Pence may have tried to bait her with a few interruptions and gotcha moments. But someone who is Black and female in U.S. politics will have learned long ago that the American voting public has double standards when it comes to anyone who is not a white male expressing anger. She played it cool, while her rival at times seemed petulant in wanting more time to get in more digs and rehearsed lines.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"All_eyes_were_on_2024_or_someday_sooner\"><\/span>All eyes were on 2024, or someday sooner<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>With two septuagenarians vying for the presidency, and coronavirus striking one of those senior citizens, this was a veep debate like none before: voters must size up the qualities of a candidate who will sit one collapsed lung away from the presidency. Before the debate, Republican stalwart Rick Santorum said on CNN that this was effectively a presidency rehearsal for Pence.<\/p>\n<p>What did we see? Mike Pence looks, as ever, like the consummate Country Club Republican or the conventionally\u00a0bland movie president\u2014as opposed to his boss, who without a word of lie\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/hollywood\/2017\/08\/donald-trump-sharknado-president\">almost played<i> Sharknado 3\u2019s<\/i><\/a> commander-in-chief, until November 2016 intervened. A mildly saner, if not more doctrinaire, version of Trumpified Republicanism awaits if he takes over. Or\u00a0<em>when<\/em> he runs in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Harris, too, acted with <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thehill\/status\/1314036874206478336?s=20\">presidential swagger, confidence and poise<\/a>. She took the time to highlight her experience in California and on key Senate committees. And while she constantly praised Biden, she subtly struck out as her own politician, with a shrewd analysis of Black injustice and cagier answers on climate change than Biden has offered.<\/p>\n<p>The moderator asked if either had had discussions about a transition of power. Neither answered.<br \/>\n<span class=\"ctx-article-root\"><!-- --><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/politics\/washington\/mr-vice-president-im-speaking-five-takeaways-from-the-u-s-veep-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#&#8217;Mr. Vice President, I&#8217;m speaking:&#8217; Five takeaways from the U.S. VP debate&#8221; Kamala Harris combined assertiveness and ease, but both she and Mike Pence wriggled out of key questions. It was all so blessedly normal. It was a debate so earnest, so conventional, so calm that you could almost hear a fly land. Or you&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/MIKE-PENCE-KAMALA-HARRIS-OCT07-766x431.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[67904,74843,67806,54282,28962],"class_list":["post-84378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-2020-u-s-election","tag-2020-vice-presidential-debate","tag-editors-picks","tag-kamala-harris","tag-mike-pence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}