by Alec Williams
Vice presidential candidates Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) faced off in the vice presidential debate on Tuesday, a week following the first presidential debate.
The event took place at Longwood University in Farmville, Va. and was moderated by CBS Weekend News anchor Elaine Quijano who became the first Asian-American moderator in debate history.
Quijano began the debate by posing the question of what qualifications the candidates had if they needed to become president at a moment’s notice. Kaine was allowed to answer first and argued that his years of public service “at all levels of government,” make him experienced enough to be a part of a potential Clinton administration. Pence referenced to his small town roots and said “If the responsibility ever fell to me, in this role, that I would meet it with the way that I’m going to meet the responsibility, should I be elected vice president of the United States. And that’s to bring a lifetime of experience.”
As the debate progressed Quijano made several attempts to get the candidates to stop interrupting and talking over each other and at one point said, “the American people cannot understand you when you try to talk over each other.”
Kaine attempted to bring up the contested issue of Donald Trump’s tax returns by saying that Trump potentially not paying his taxes since 1995, according to a report by The New York Times, signifies Trump’s lack of support among veterans and veterans groups.
Pence responded by saying, “His tax returns showed he went through a very difficult time, but he used the tax code just the way it’s supposed to be used and he did it brilliantly.” Pence was later criticized after the debate by some media outlets for not answering specific questions about Donald Trump and the remarks he has made over the course of the campaign that has been considered inflammatory. “I can’t imagine how Gov. Pence can defend the insult-driven, selfish, me-first style of Donald Trump,” Kaine said.
Pence returned by saying that attacks have been made on both sides of the 2016 campaign. “That’s small potatoes compared to Hillary Clinton calling half of Donald Trump’s supporters a ‘basket of deplorables,’” Pence said.
At the end of the contentious debate, a CNN/ORC poll showed that of 472 registered voters interviewed with a margin of error of 4.5 percent, 48 percent of voters said that Gov. Pence won the debate with 42 percent saying Sen. Kaine won. Four percent said neither candidate won and 6 percent said they were equal.
“Thirty percent of the respondents who participated in tonight’s survey identified themselves as republicans, 41 percent identified themselves as democrats, and 29 percent identified themselves as independents,” reported the CNN/ORC poll.
This is the only debate between the vice presidential candidates, with the next presidential debate scheduled for Oct. 9.
