“I’m still speaking!”–Harris vs Pence. Screeshot ABC TV
Even though Vice President Mike Pence kept going over his allotted two minutes, things never got out of hand because Senator Kamala Harris also made sure she extended her time to make up for Pence’s cheating. What was most revealing was that Pence refused to say what he’d do if Biden won but Trump refused to yield power. Pence couldn’t answer the question because he knows that his boss Trump knows he can’t win the election.
It’s remarkable that a sitting president would openly say he wouldn’t yield power should his opponent win. Trump is now 10 points behind in most of the polling and this gap opened up after his disastrous performance in last week’s debate when he memorably failed to condemn White Supremacy and instead sent out a signal for White right wing militias to be ready for anarchy—“Stand back, stand by.” Senator Harris’ response was also revealing—she mentioned the fact that many political leaders, including Republicans are backing the Biden/Harris ticket. But she also noted that many military commanders are supporting their ticket—a not very subtle indication that America’s craziest racist President may be dragged out of the White House in a straight jacket.
Pence appeared like a normal human being. But he didn’t do anything that would win the Trump/Pence ticket any new voters. He stood by the typical GOP mantra: pro big-business; support of the fossil fuel industry; rejection of science when it comes to global warming; and, trying to get rid of Roe vs Wade. Pence seemed cool and calm through most of the debate until Senator Harris slapped him with the fact that his boss Trump called American dead servicemen “suckers.” Then the mannequin lost his calm a little. Some color came to his face. He tried to convince viewers that Trump had been maligned on his attitude towards the military. The denial wasn’t convincing—Trump, in public, denigrated the late Senator John McCain. He said McCain was “no hero” because he’d been taken prisoner during the Vietnam war.
From then on, Pence’s calm—“I’m in charge of everything today”—demeanor disappeared.
Sen. Harris kept reminding viewers that Trump wanted to strike down Obamacare which would result in: 20 million people losing their coverage including people with pre-existing conditions and young adults who are 26 and younger and are now allowed to stay on their parents’ health insurance coverage. She also reminded the viewers that because of the administrations incompetence more than 211,000 have died while 7.6 million Americans have been infected.
