I Thought Kamala Won

She was intelligent and more presidential

There’s nothing more irritating than waking up the morning after a political debate to the flurry of stories from both sides claiming their candidate won. The second the debate is over, the pundits wade in to try to capitalize on a strong performance, or minimize the damage from a disastrous one.

A debate is not a sporting event. You can’t score it and designate a winner. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. In fact, it takes at least a week until you can fully comprehend the repercussions of what happened.

Trump’s trainwreck of a performance in the first presidential debate has caused his already bad polling to get even worse. He looked unhealthy, lied, and interrupted Biden in a way that seemed juvenile and weak. To make matters worse, he pathetically complained of unfair treatment. The result was that Kamala came into the vice-presidential debate protecting a lead. Her only objective was to not make a gaffe that could erode momentum, but she did much better than that.

Mike Pence mansplains

The biggest takeaway from the debate was how Mike Pence followed Trump’s lead and didn’t even bother to follow the rules of proper decorum. He often interrupted both Kamala Harris and moderator Susan Page. He also frequently continued speaking even when the moderator informed him he had exceeded his two minute allotment.

The Trump campaign has made it part of their platform to claim that they are the party of lawfulness. However, it doesn’t speak to this message when both the Republican candidate and his running mate fail to comply with the rules of a simple debate.

The rules were not secret. Both campaigns agreed to the conditions before the proceedings commenced. Kamala Harris was much more compliant which speaks to her superior dignity and moral character. Pence and Trump both have conducted themselves like desperate bullies.

Kamala Harris was more presidential

It would have been nice to see Harris call out Pence on his excessive speaking. I would have liked to see her turn to the camera and say, “Neither Trump nor Pence have proved themselves capable of following the rules of a simple debate. This inclination to lawlessness has also been reflected in the behavior of their administration.”

She could have then made a pivot to other examples of lawlessness which include Trump’s failure to release his tax returns, and his efforts to obstruct reasonable investigations that are in the best interests of our country.

However, it seemed clear that the objective of the Biden campaign was to make an effort to restore some dignity to the election after Trump’s juvenile and desperate performance in the first debate. Harris didn’t go for too many knockout blows, even though Pence left himself open for them.

Debt is an indicator of potential for corruption

As a prosecutor, Harris knows the importance of full disclosure, and it was a shame to see Pence sidestep the question of Trump’s taxes. A person who carries enormous debt is a liability. The people to whom the debt is owed wield tremendous influence.

Harris made some excellent points that the American public deserves to know who owns Trump’s debt. Trump, of course, has denied the debt exists, but it’s telling that he has continually failed to provide evidence for his position.

Health care

Another area where Harris scored some important points was when she detailed the deplorable way the Trump administration has labored to strip American citizens of health care. Pence, apparently thinking this is still 2016, went on to attack Obamacare. But the simple fact is that we are at the end of a 4 year presidential term, and any problems that exist in our current health care system are now a result of the actions of the current administration.

Trump and Pence have had more than enough time to implement improvements to the health care system. Instead, all they’ve managed to do is dismantle existing programs that provide relief from health care expenses to working class people. It’s been a complete slaughter, and in the midst of a pandemic, the behavior is not only cruel, it is also borderline criminally negligent.

It would have been nice for Harris to insist that all of the American people deserve the same kind of quality health care that the president is able to enjoy (at the taxpayer’s expense), when he gets sick.

Taxes

It’s been frustrating to watch political ads where the Trump campaign tries to spread the lie that Biden will increase taxes. Harris did a good job of correcting Pence and definitively stating that taxes will not be raised on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.

Pence attempted to implement a traditional, underhanded tactic of protecting the obscenely wealthy by laboring to turn working class people against their own interests. What has been painfully obvious during the current administration is that Trump and Pence care only for the well-being of the richest people in our nation. This can be seen by the fact that any tax relief given to the middle class is set to expire, while the relief provided to the highest earners is permanent.

The potential coup

On several occasions, Trump has failed to provide assurance that he will commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses the election. Harris addressed this issue by urging people to vote, and Pence sidestepped it by saying he expected his campaign to win.

The American people deserve a more forceful discussion on this point. If a president rejects the result of an election, that action would represent a coup and our country would likely be plunged into civil war. Of all the issues that were discussed during the debate, this is the one where Pence should not have been allowed to get away with a non-answer.

The American people deserve to know where Pence’s loyalties lie. If Trump contests a legitimate loss, will Pence side with the Constitution, or will he act to enable Trump’s coup? It’s been disappointing to watch pundits back down from these statements, but Trump’s threats should not be taken lightly. Our whole democracy is very much at stake.

A solid performance

The Biden campaign currently enjoys a huge lead, and Harris performed very well. She provided intelligent answers, was truthful, and conducted herself with respect and dignity.

In contrast, it was incumbent upon Mike Pence to gain some ground for a struggling campaign. He was aggressive, made frequent interruptions, spoke beyond his time, and made inaccurate statements. Time will tell, but it’s likely that the American public will conclude Pence’s performance was yet another example of a presidential administration that has proven itself again and again to be dishonest, incompetent, and aggravating.