After a heated performance by both presidential candidates on Sept. 28, Mike Pence and Tim Kaine had quite the expectations to live up to in their own exchange of arguments on Tuesday, Oct. 4.
The debate itself included topics such as Hillary’s trustworthiness, the potential for presidential leadership that each of the candidates possessed, the state of America’s economy, the absence of Donald Trump’s taxes released as public information, the state of Social Security, the continuing issue between law enforcement and race relations, the issue of illegal immigration, terrorism (both international and domestic), Syria, and even the candidates’ personal faith as it relates to the issues of the death penalty and abortion.
President of College Republicans, Joseph Carroll, talked a bit on what he thought of these vice presidential candidates before the debate began.
“I think Mike Pence has the name recognition because he’s been in the national spotlight before. Unlike Tim Kaine– who I’ve heard of– but outside of political circles, I don’t think people across the country are familiar with him. So Tim Kaine is really going to have to come out and make a name for himself. Most people don’t know who Tim Kaine is. Mike Pence is in, I think, a lot better situation so far,” Carroll said.
When asked about what he expected to be discussed at this debate, Carroll responded that he expected “there to not be a lot of attacks between the vice presidential candidates. I think they’ll be attacking the presidential nominees. I think Mike Pence will go very, very hard on Hillary Clinton, which will be no surprise. I think Trump went very easy on her. It’s going to be about the presidential candidates, not the vice presidential candidates.”
Carroll concluded that he saw Mike Pence coming out on top of this debate due to his experience. “At the end of the day, I think Mike Pence is the one who’s going to walk away the victor,” Carroll said.
Kirk Kreiter, president of the College Democrats of Augustana, had some differing views.
“So far, they’ve kind of been overshadowed by their respective presidential candidates. I’m kind of going in just really interested in seeing how they perform on the national stage.” Kreiter continued, “I feel something that might be discussed tonight is the issue of Donald Trump’s taxes.”
He concluded by sharing that he felt the vice presidential debate may be a bit more laid back than the continuous attacks between Hillary and Trump. “I’m not entirely sure who will come out on top,” Kreiter said. “I’m anxious to see.”
The debate ended up being anything but laid back, as the vice presidential candidates took continuous verbal swings at their running mates and each other. The topics discussed were contentious, and the mood of those watching the debate was electric.
Following the debate, Kreiter said, “I think that this debate [showed] both candidates doing a good job of not representing just themselves, but their running mates. Mike Pence did a good job of filling in people with some of the missing elements of Trump’s platform, but, when it comes down to it, I think that ultimately Tim Kaine did a better job of speaking. He brought up more points, he brought up more facts, and he responded well to both the  moderator and Mike Pence.”
Carroll, after noting the accuracy about the prediction that the debate would be more about the presidential candidates than those debating, had some opposite views following the debate.
“Kaine, I think he really had a terrible performance. He looked visibly distraught, his face was red, he was fidgeting the entire time and constantly interrupting. I think in the eyes of most Americans, they were looking for a candidate who looked steadfast. I think Mike Pence fulfilled that role. I haven’t seen a vice presidential candidate go on the offensive quite like Tim Kaine: I think every other word was some kind of insult against Donald Trump,” Carroll said.