Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence went toe-to-toe on the debate stage for the first and only time Tuesday night.
As the major parties’ Vice Presidential candidates sought to make their case for their respective tickets, the stakes could not be higher.
Last Monday, after many months of hype, Donald Trump met Hillary Clinton in the most-watched presidential debate in history.
Trump’s dutiful cable TV minions and unscientific, unreliable online polls aside, the consensus was that the Donald imploded.
He came in virtually tied with the Democratic standard bearer, only to derail his White House bid with 90 minutes of word vomit.
The bad news for Mike Pence, the Indiana Governor and #2 man on the Republican ticket? He has to clean up after this disaster.
The good news? Trump is still only 4-5 points down and has bounced back multiple times before after pundits stuck a fork in him.
You can’t shake a political juggernaut this YUGE easily, people!
Compared to the presidential debates, this showdown is bound to be boring. Stiff. Wooden. Mind-numbingly focused on policy.
Good for the American people, albeit not for TV fireworks.
With Pence and U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, Trump and Clinton picked V.P. choices you pretty much can’t help but like.
Sure, ideological and political differences abound, but darned if you wouldn’t like Pence or Kaine as your next door neighbor.
In fact, the takeaway of viewers who sit through this event may be disappointment … that this wasn’t the presidential debate.
Pence’s goal, heading into the night? Try to mitigate the damage caused by the top of his own ticket with calm and competence.
A longtime conservative favorite, he’ll no doubt assuage some concerns among Trump’s base by virtue of merely showing up.
Kaine’s objective? Be his similarly decent, affable, and qualified self while portraying Clinton as the steady hand America needs.
Oh, and sandbag Pence with Trump quotes every 10 seconds.
Which of the two was able to pull it off? Did they fight to a snooze-fest of a draw, as many observers predicted before the event?
You tell us: Who won the great V.P. debate of 2016?
Hit the comments and vote about to let us know.