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Preparations for the TV duel at the University of Utah: Who would make the better Commander-in-Chief?
Photo: JIM BOURG / REUTERS
A plexiglass barrier and twelve instead of the originally intended two meters will separate Mike Pence and Kamala Harris during their TV duel.
After Donald Trump's coronavirus infection became known at the end of last week, the Debate Commission decided to further spread the seats of the Vice President and Senator in the hall of the University of Utah.
Harris' team insisted on the Plexiglas, and Pence's entourage reluctantly agreed.
The debate between Trump's vice-president and Joe Biden's "running mate" is not only logistically dominated by the wave of infections that have haunted the White House for a few days.
The president's illness and the initial concern that Biden might also have been infected during the TV duel with Trump made one thing clear to the public: whether her name is Pence or Harris, in the worst case number two could soon be more than.
Trump is 74 years old, Biden 77. A pandemic is sweeping the country, costing tens of thousands of lives.
Trump already has Corona;
Biden was recently tested negative several times, but he also belongs to the risk group.
At the end of this chain, the question arises with an unprecedented urgency: Which of the people who will duel in Salt Lake City this Wednesday evening would make the better Commander-in-Chief?
Usually the running TV debates are neither memorable nor decisive;
they are often forgotten again within a few days.
But the legitimate concern for the health of the presidential candidates - abstract in Biden's case, concrete for Trump for a few days - should give the duel between Harris and Pence more weight.
Two biographies, two drafts from America
In a country polarized to the extreme, the biographies of the two opponents stand for two different designs of America.
On one side, Pence, once governor of Indiana: white and male, an ultra-conservative evangelical from the province.
On the other, Harris, ex-attorney general of California: daughter of an economist from Jamaica and a breast cancer researcher from India, also the only remaining woman and non-white in the presidential race.
According to the US media, referring to his environment, Pence has resolved to avoid any hint of a faux pas when it comes to gender and skin color.
There are some indications that he will succeed.
Pence is considered a capable discussant, has radio experience, is aggressive and balanced at the same time.
Harris' camp also prepares for a worthy adversary;
Pence won his duel against Hillary Clinton's runner-up, Tim Caine, four years ago, people around the Senator are convinced of that.
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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in July 2019 in Detroit: Still competitors in the Democratic primary campaign, now a team
Photo:
Lucas Jackson / REUTERS
However, the vice president is under pressure.
Trump is behind Biden in polls and is battered by the virus.
His number two is now expected to score points with his TV audience.
For her part, Harris has repeatedly shown her verbal clout in her comparatively short Senate career.
Democrats have never forgotten how they cornered today's Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh with their questions at his 2018 hearing.
In her party's primary campaign, the Californian gave her then competitor Biden what was perhaps the most uncomfortable moment when she accused him of being against black children being driven to white schools in school buses in the 1970s.
At the same time, Harris also showed weaknesses during the internal party debates: In particular, the Senator failed to get a clear and constant message to the audience.
Corona, the Supreme Court, and Obama's health care reform
According to reports, Harris does not want to head for the big identity-political clash in the duel against Pence.
Instead, she's likely staying true to the Biden team's strategy.
On the one hand, she wants to address the dangers of Barack Obama's health care reform, which the Democrats believe would result from an appointment of Trump's candidate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
On the other hand, she wants to address the Trump administration's corona policy as extensively as possible.
This would also hit Pence directly.
According to all that is known so far, this does not belong to the large and growing circle of Trump confidants who recently became infected with the virus.
However, as head of the White House's corona task force, Pence is responsible for the Trump administration's response to the pandemic.
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Mike Pence and the President: Trump's vice has to score in the TV duel
Photo: Evan Vucci / AP
The 90-minute debate, moderated by Susan Page, director of USA Today's Washington office, should provide ample opportunity.
Which brings one to another reason why this debate could have a higher priority than previous ones: The first TV duel between Trump and Biden turned into a screaming fight in which factual issues were largely lost.
And after Trump's illness, the fate of the further debates is unclear.
Even if they go ahead as planned, as the Commission seems to be assuming at the moment, there is much to suggest that they will end up as a mudfight again.
"Harris vs. Pence" could be the only one of the debates in this year's election campaign in which viewers get to know the substantive positions of the two camps.
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