Who know if this veep debate will matter more than any of the previous ones, but rarely has a running mate done more to help his ticket than Pence did tonight, and rarely has one hurt her ticket more than Harris.
This debate SHOULD be important because Harris is going to end up in the Oval Office and everyone knows it. It matters a lot that she's a lightweight who can't give a straight answer, credulously repeats every hoax she's ever heard, and thinks China is the top dog nation.
Harris' servility to Communist China is ASTOUNDING. Xi Jinping should send her a hammer and sickle pin as a reward for a job well done. She took Beijing's line every chance she got, on every issue. She even straight-up lied about global opinion surveys about Beijing.
This matters. It's highly relevant. Biden is Beijing's man, and Harris would be even worse. Their election would hand the 21st century to Chinese Communism. No American of any political inclination should be comfortable with that. No one in the free world should be.
The issue on everyone's mind is the coronavirus, which Harris gave China a complete and total pass for. Everything she said about the pandemic could have been written by Chinese state media. They'll be writing glowing reviews of her wonderful performance for the rest of the week.
As for the domestic coronavirus situation, anyone paying attention will have noticed that Harris never could articulate anything of substance she or Biden would do differently. She evaded that topic almost as assiduously as the question on court-packing.
It matters because blaming people other than China for coronavirus deaths, without explaining how you would have done better, is scurrilous. The only thing Harris could think to do was harp on Bob Woodward's book. That's not good enough if the election is supposed to turn on it.
Pence was absolutely dominant on the economy, and that's THE big issue going into 2021. Harris was awful at selling Biden's unicorn-fart agenda. The constant lies about fracking are a sign of how dishonest and destructive the Harris-Biden economic agenda is.
Maybe it will be hard to get voters to remember anything before March, but they really should, because Trump and Pence's achievements on the economy were incredible - they did things the Obama Democrats said were impossible. Jobs and rising wages were transforming society.
That's important because it's directly relevant to post-pandemic recovery. Trump and Pence have proven they can grow the economy and create jobs. Biden is babbling about raising everyone's taxes on Day One and blowing trillions on global warming fantasies while China laughs.
Harris' ridiculous and clumsy lies about tax hikes were another big tell. Repealing the Trump tax cuts absolutely WOULD raise taxes on everyone, and then Biden wants to raise them more. That's pure poison for a recovering economy. It's absolute lunacy.
Harris' squirmy court-packing fiasco was important too. It matters that Democrats intend to trash the American system to grab more power. It's the last thing we need, and Pence was right to point out his ticket's greater faith in the American people and time-honored systems.
Harris was an unholy disaster on law and order, and it's hilarious she thinks she can fix that by bellowing she's a prosecutor. It's absolutely clear the Democrat Party intends to cripple the police. Their violent fringe will accept nothing less.
Harris shamefully lied about "mostly peaceful" protests, which is another signal to the American people that the Democrat Party is now comfortable with political violence. You WILL get more of it if they gain power, and they'll give you the same prattle about "mostly peaceful."
Pence hit grand slams on the "very fine people" hoax, the white supremacy panic, and the ridiculously loaded question about peacefully transferring power. He said what so many have been thinking: the Obama-Biden administration burned "peaceful transfer of power" to the ground.
Speaking of which, it was better moderation than the Chris Wallace debacle, but still the moderator was clearly on the Democrat side, using their framing for every question and stepping in to save Harris from the worst beatdowns. Why is it so hard to get professional moderators?
We need impartial questions that will challenge all candidates. If we're going to have questions for the Republican written by the DNC, then let the questions for the Democrat be written by the RNC. Or else just ask about "the economy" or whatever without leading and framing.
But Pence was very capable in handling the 2-on-1 tag team bits. He came with a lot of information ready, chapter and verse, with debate ideas tied directly to policy. It works much better than unfocused belligerence, especially when you're the incumbent with a record to defend.
The key theme in this campaign has always been the Return to Normal. Pence had forceful rhetoric and specific details; Harris had evasions, lies, and that weird, arrogant, off-putting style. Pence was far more convincing as the candidate who knows how to get back to Normal.
But Pence isn't not the top of the ticket, and veep debates aren't likely to change the momentum of a race - even this one, where Harris' unfitness for the top office is far more relevant than usual. Trump is in trouble because he DIDN'T sell himself as the Return to Normal guy.
Maybe Trump can still close that deal, although for those not inclined to dismiss all polling as meaningless garbage, it seems like a crucial moment passed with some important constituencies between the first debate and Covid diagnosis.
If Trump does have another swing at changing that momentum, he could take some pointers from how Pence handled himself tonight: forceful and passionate (in his more subdued way) but also sharp and detailed, citing Harris-Biden's words verbatim instead of just yelling at them.
This isn't just about pleasing the Beltway political class or the media. It's about convincing crucial voters that you have a serious plan for restoration and it's far better than Biden's, whose flaws you can cite chapter and verse. It's about charting that road back to Normal.
As Pence showed tonight, making the opponent squirm, filibuster, evade, and lie until even the MSM moderator raises an eyebrow is more productive than getting into "You suck! / No, YOU suck!" shouting matches. ESPECIALLY if you're the incumbent and the election is all about you.
Pence missed a few things like immigration, a subject the media is being VERY careful not to go anywhere near, since Biden, Harris, and every other Dem candidate babbled about open borders and taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens - a death blow to U.S. recovery.
And he did well on the climate change nonsense - which the media insists on spotlighting in every debate, even though it's not a top 10 issue for voters, ESPECIALLY not now - but he could have destroyed it even more thoroughly by talking about China's coal plants and CFCs.
This "do you believe the science of climate change?" swill from the media is not the real issue. The real issue is we're doing better on all counts than the countries idolized by the climate cult, and we shouldn't get bullied into agreements that unfairly and POINTLESSLY hurt us.
It's the essence of the globalist foolishness that Trump ran against so effectively in 2016, and Harris embraced with her obsequious repetition of Beijing's talking points: the presumption that America is evil and has to suffer more, pay more, regress more to show "leadership."
Those are minor criticisms of a terrific performance by Vice President Pence. It might not matter. The veep stuff usually doesn't, no matter how excited pundits get about it. But maybe this time it will, especially if President Trump studies the outcome carefully. /end
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