Paula lugones
10/08/2020 7:13 AM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 10/08/2020 7:27 AM
Two minutes and three seconds was the exact time that everyone will remember from
the vice
-
presidential debate
on Wednesday night for
the US elections
on November 3
lasted
: the time when
an
impertinent
fly
landed on Mike Pence's head. , when millions of people watched him in a face-to-face with Democrat Kamala Harris that was pretty "normal" and boring, away from the chaos and aggression of Trump vs. Biden on Tuesday last week.
In the only debate of the vice candidates before the elections, the number two of Donald Trump,
without shining
, managed to avoid tough questions, show himself as
a stable
, presidential
leader
and calmly and courteously convey the same slogans that your boss emits in a chaotic way.
Harris did his homework, rose to the occasion, but
didn't deliver the knockout
the opposition needed to further complicate the chances of the president, who is trailing in the polls.
Less than a month before the elections, the interest of the second of the formulas grows given the
advanced age
of the candidates: Trump is 74 years old and Biden 77. Pence arrived at a disadvantage to the debate, with 9.7% below the Biden-Harris formula, based on average of RealClearPolitics polls, and 4.5% behind in key states.
The difference was accentuated in the last week.
The vice, 61, also carried two issues that played against him.
First, the weight of the first confrontation between Trump and Biden, which had been
very problematic
for the president, criticized for permanently interrupting his rival, lying on various issues, refusing to condemn white supremacism and committing to accept the outcome of the election, in an unprecedented debate about the level of mutual aggressiveness.
Second, the coronavirus that made Trump sick and the explosion of infections in the White House, in the midst of a pandemic that already has
210,000 deaths
in the United States and whose severity the president denied from the beginning.
Pence's turn
Pence got around those obstacles well.
With his slow tone and inexpressive face, the vice president was calm and made certain
gestures of courtesy
that are never heard from the president: he thanked Harris that Biden sent condolences to Trump on his illness, he
congratulated her
on having achieved his nomination as a candidate and said she prayed for the victims of the coronavirus.
Pence got around those obstacles well and made polite gestures.
Photo: EFE
In addition, she deftly dodged complicated topics, many times stretching the answers to allow her time to expire, other times deviating the axis and also politely ignoring the questions of the moderator to continue answering a previous question.
For example, when Harris told him that the White House strategy with the coronavirus had clearly failed, he calmly and falsely replied that she was criticizing Americans who had made so many sacrifices.
"From the get-go, Trump put citizens first," he continued,
without blushing.
He also said that the information about the president's health had been "transparent", when there were many obscure ones.
Like his boss, Pence praised the policy of
law and order
, but complied, as the good politician's manual indicates, in sending condolences to the victims.
Like Trump, he went around the bush and avoided saying whether they will accept the results if they lose in the election.
The same when talking about the condemnation of white supremacism.
Pence praised the law and order policy.
Photo: AFP
Harris
Harris, meanwhile, sought to
focus on issues
.
At first she was nervous, but then she was released and was correct.
In previous debates, she went to the jugular of the rivals, but this time she preferred to show
a more presidential image.
“Harris seemed more honest and much nicer than Pence.
She smiled and moved easily even though she was sitting up.
Vice President Pence
was seen to be rigid
and only showed greater attractiveness in the middle of the debate, "
Marion Just, professor of Political Science at Wellesley College
, told
Clarín
.
"Harris seemed more honest and much nicer than Pence." Photo: Bloomberg
"If we analyze the content - he added - Pence was stronger when he defended the achievements of this administration, overshadowed in recent months by the pandemic and recession."
Harris called the Trump administration "inept" and "incompetent" and crossed paths with Pence on taxes, saying the Trump administration lowered them only to the wealthy and reaffirming that Biden would increase them only to families who earn more. $ 400,000 per year.
When they talked about climate change, - comfortable ground for Democrats - she also had to ratify that they were not going to ban fracking because Pence pressed her on this issue, important in key states like Pennsylvania.
She avoided answering whether it would increase the number of
members of the Supreme Court
.
The 55-year-old Harris' debut, which had sparked a lot of hype, was a bit pale.
Kamala Harris and Mike Pence, in full debate.
Photo: Bloomberg
It is known that in debates sometimes
the image
matters
more
than what the candidates really say and that in general they do not serve to change the opinions of those who are already convinced.
But they can have an impact on that
band of undecided
so precious to win the election and that Trump had scared off in the first debate, according to the polls.
In that sense, Pence
achieved his mission
: he needed to at least stop the bleeding of a chaotic week and show that there is someone "normal" to neutralize Trump's excesses.
A failure in the debate this Wednesday night would have been fatal.
Without shining and with a friendly and dry style, Pence managed to cunningly avoid the challenge of defending the management of the coronavirus with
an infected president
, along with 34 other people with access to the White House, and who had just released a video in which he speaks of illness as
"a blessing from God
.
"
And, in addition, to focus the Trumpist slogans that were blurred behind the controversial forms of the tycoon.
The rivals and their partners greet at the end of the debate.
Photo: AP
Trump will have another chance to show himself in action again on the 15th, when his next television meeting with Biden is scheduled.
Everyone will have their eyes on your post-coronavirus performance and
manners.
Meanwhile, Pence
swept under the rug
- at least for now - the dishes broken by his boss.
He ratified that he has the credentials to be the Republican candidate in 2024. Although only by points,
the vice won last night
, a boring but strategic debate, where an inopportune fly captured everyone's attention.
Washington, correspondent
ap
Look also
Vice US debate: who is Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's running mate in the presidential election
Trump with coronavirus: the West Wing is a ghost town, and everyone in the White House is angry or scared