VP Debate: Pence Schools Kaine and holds Hillary accountable. By Matthew Vadum.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) laid out a largely conservative vision and a fuzzy but coherent blueprint for restoring America’s greatness last night.
His opponent, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), assumed the role of Santa Claus and promised that more handouts, bigger government, and higher taxes on the productive would solve the nation’s problems. Kaine said cops and police brutality are big problems and Pence said the Left is too quick to condemn police before facts are known.
The insult gap:
After Kaine said Trump’s was an insult-driven campaign, Pence laid into him: “[I]f Donald Trump had said all of the things that you’ve said he said in the way you said he said them, he still wouldn’t have a fraction of the insults that Hillary Clinton leveled when she said that half of our supporters were a basket of deplorables. It’s — she said they were irredeemable, they were not American. I mean, it’s extraordinary.”
Terrorism or climate change: only one is a real threat, but progressives are having trouble figuring which because only one is a good reason to set up a global bureaucracy.
Kaine made the argument during the debate that battling terrorism is at least as important as fighting climate change.
The theatrics:
It is fair to say that Pence easily dominated the debate. He was measured and calm. Kaine, on the other hand, came across as flailing and desperate, and a little too anxious to attack.
Kaine’s preferred emotion was indignation. His exasperation at being unable to get a rise out of Pence was obvious, evidenced by his favorite phrase of the night: “I can’t believe,” which he used repeatedly.
Hillary’s latest scandal got a run in this debate:
When Pence hit Kaine over Hillary’s email scandal, saying national secrets were at risk, Kaine was dismissive, noting that the FBI concluded not to move forward with a prosecution.
The congenitally corrupt Clintons created their unique cloak-and-dagger email infrastructure to frustrate Freedom of Information Act requesters, shield Hillary’s correspondence from congressional oversight, and steer money to the international cash-for-future-presidential-favors clearinghouse known as the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, which, amazingly enough, still enjoys tax-exempt status.
Second presidential debate this Sunday, October 9.
hat-tip Stephen Neil
