The 2008 vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin was one of the most anticipated political events in history — and both campaigns were uneasy about a race-altering mishap in a contest featuring a pair of outsize personalities.
For Barack Obama’s team, the concern was that the gregarious Biden would easily run down a rabbit hole, needlessly overreaching to counter a confusing Palin pronouncement.
For John McCain’s lieutenants, the fear was Palin would make a mind-numbing mistake that would be seen as disqualifying her from sitting a heartbeat away from the presidency.
The nail-biting was for naught. Both did fine, avoided gaffes and made their respective cases for the top of the ticket. A record 70 million people tuned in to make it the most-watched vice presidential debate in history, even though its real impact was meager.
In fact, Gallup found that “none of the eight vice presidential debates occurring from 1976 to 2008 appears to have meaningfully altered voter preferences.”
On Tuesday night at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, two skilled, seasoned and affable politicians with competent but relatively bland profiles will debate for 90 minutes in 2016’s sole vice presidential face-off.
Tim Kaine, the Democratic senator from Virginia, is no Joe Biden, and Mike Pence, the Republican governor of Indiana, is no Sarah Palin. So the usual pre-debate hype has been markedly subdued.
While the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was billed as a “clash of the century”, the Kaine-Pence quarrel might be anticipated as the underwhelming undercard.
Still, campaign veterans note that even if the running mates’ remarks won’t move the needle much, they’re required to prepare like they will. For a handful of hours in the 34 days remaining in this election, Kaine and Pence will be at the center of attention, and perhaps, in certain areas, they’ll be able to lob attacks and launch defenses more effectively than their ticketmates.
Given the excruciating last week Trump has had — one that’s included a shoddy debate performance, his spiteful retorts regarding a former Miss Universe contestant, the disclosure that he may not have paid federal income taxes for roughly two decades, and a new report that claims he made lewd remarks in front of staffers and contestants on his hit television show “The Apprentice” — Pence will need to provide a sturdy defense.
Having taken a hit in national and battleground state polls, Team Trump needs desperately to win a day. And it may take Trump’s sidekick to do it.
“Gov. Pence is an effective public communicator, having served successfully in Congress and having hosted a syndicated radio program for years prior. He’s very practiced and comfortable at this. There’s a very good chance Gov. Pence will perform well,” says Kevin Kellems, an Indiana-based GOP operative who has known Pence for more than two decades.
Kaine, who much like Clinton is known as a policy wonk, spent last Thursday through Saturday hunkered down in Raleigh, North Carolina, in debate preparations with Washington lawyer Bob Barnett, who played the role of Pence.
Like Pence, Kaine has debated frequently throughout a political career that’s featured runs for lieutenant governor, governor and U.S. senator. But an aide says he’s studiously aware that Tuesday night’s task will not be about him.
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“This is a different kind of debate,” says the aide, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about his candidate’s preparations. “You’re talking about your running mate, whereas previously it’s been about you and your record.”
As Kaine continued debate preparation in Virginia on Monday, his aides framed the task at hand as placing Pence on defense over Trump’s litany of controversies. The Indiana governor has been a loyal Trump surrogate on the trail, ably deflecting sensitive inquiries and gracefully pivoting to turn the focus on Clinton.
Kaine appears ready to test that resiliency.
“It really is more about Donald Trump than it is about Gov. Pence,” Kaine told reporters on his campaign plane recently.
For instance, while Pence has released his tax returns for public review, Trump has remained stubbornly resistant to doing so, and likely will only dig in further given the recent New York Times expose on his 1995 tax records.
“How much does he defend Donald Trump given his own political aspirations? How does he navigate that?” the Kaine aide asks.
Pence also has undergone mock debate sessions, with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker playing the part of Kaine.
“Each time he finished with Gov. Walker, he was thankful he did not have to debate Gov. Walker on national television,” Pence spokesman Marc Lotter says.
But like Trump, Pence has taken little time off the trail for prep, even holding a nighttime rally in Ashland, Virginia, on Monday.
In addition to making an affirmative case for Trump, Pence’s prime objective will be to undercut Clinton.
“He’s also going to make the case Hillary Clinton represents the failed policies of the status quo, which has weakened America on the world stage and led to the rise of radical Islamic terrorism,” Lotter says.
Pence and Kaine did not serve together in Congress, and their only known prior interaction was when Pence placed a congratulatory call to Kaine after Clinton selected him as his running mate.
It would be surprising if their encounter devolved into a mean-spirited affair beyond the normal political slights, though the Republican National Committee has released a video detailing Kaine’s work as an attorney defending criminals accused of crimes like rape and murder.
How much of the 90 minutes delves into the records of Kaine and Pence will be up to the moderator, CBS News’ Elaine Quijano, the first Asian-American to perform such a role on the national stage.
But both sides are viewing this as a super surrogate opportunity to promote and defend their preferred commander-in-chief.
And not long after the lights go down in Farmville, the glare will swiftly reposition, and the cable news countdown clocks will quickly reset.
The second presidential debate is only five days away.
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Tim Kaine, Mike Pence and the Vice Presidential Debate That Won’t Really Matter originally appeared on usnews.com
