Okay, what if the weird democratic ritual we saw last week really was a debate? Easy to score. Harris – 8/10, Pence – 1/10. How does that work?
Well, there were 9 topics plus the key question from the eighth-grader. Harris scored 8 times, and the fact that she was often shooting at an empty net makes no difference.
Both of them (understandably) ducked the one about Trump refusing to step down after a loss. (It’s a non-question. After all, once Trump loses the election, his usefulness to the Republican Party will be nil except as an image to run away from. He’ll just be one weak old man, refusing to accept his just desserts.)
The one Pence cleaned up on was the “gimme” from the young lady. “What does all this fighting mean?” He gave the fine old-fashioned line, “We love an argument, but after it’s over, we’re all together as Americans.” Which is the perfect answer to give a child, which a fourteen-year-old is not, and I hope she saw through the smarm. That gets him the touchdown, but the conversion escapes him. When you think about the guy that’s saying it, and the policies of his party over the last 12 years, you realize that it’s a complete pile of road apples, but nonetheless, it’s the answer we would all like to believe. Harris answered, as both candidates did throughout the debate, with a string of electioneering talking points. Fair enough, but it doesn’t answer the question. So Pence gets the consolation prize.
Thus in a debate, it would have been Harris, 8-1. A definitive victory. But it wasn’t a debate. It was a political debate.
No Game, no Contest
When the objectives of the two participants are so diverse, it’s impossible to declare a winner. They were playing two completely different games. So, how did they rate on a political level?
Kamala Harris
Before the puck drops, you have to understand the rules she was playing under. A woman in a political debate has heavy restrictions. She isn’t allowed to show any anger, any indignation. The old “too emotional to function” myth still functions. The ironic part of it is that, should she break this rule, she’ll lose votes from a lot of women, who will say, “That’s no way to treat a man.”
And as a woman of colour, Harris is playing under a lot more serious rules. If she’s trying to appeal to anyone of a slightly right-wing tinge she doesn’t dare seem “uppity.” How the hell you deal with someone like Pence without taking the high road, I have no idea. According to Susan Rice (Obama’s Security Advisor and Ambassador to the UN) who I heard interviewed on CBC today, Joe Biden took heat in some circles for telling Trump to “Shut up.” Yeah, that’s politics.
So, Harris had to find ways to stand up to her opponent without standing up to him. Like one of her players got hit with a cheap game misconduct before the game started. My favourite point in the debate was when Pence interrupted her and used a bunch of her time. When the moderator told her it was time to stop, she snapped back with, “He interrupted me,” and went on without missing a beat. Talk about thinking on your feet! Of course the moderator, who was probably severely peeved at his constant overruns, was happy to let her have the time.
So, on a political level, Harris used the debate to show American voters that she’s a force to be reckoned with. After all, she won the whole thing, despite her original handicap.
Political Score for Harris? All objectives gained. 100%
Mike Pence
Well, Pence was playing to the peanut gallery (his Republican supporters), and his act was walking a tightrope; he had to make a good show of answering the questions without contradicting his boss. And that’s a pretty tough order, like starting every kickoff from his own goal line. However, Teflon Mike has one great talent. The truth simply slides off him and washes away. As he demonstrated time and again throughout the debate, he is a far more accomplished liar than Trump.
If you look at his objectives for the game, he was scoring touchdowns all over the place. Every time he twisted a concept or created a new fact, he scored with his fans. For example, when the question had anything to do with the COVID response, his spin was that Biden’s plan looks exactly like what the government is already doing. Of course it is. At least the effective parts of it. The question isn’t the good moves. It’s the slow start, the denials, and the actual negative publicity for good policies.
But in Pence’s game, those moves are taking place away from the ball, on the other side of the field, so they don’t count.
And when it comes to obeying the mere female moderator, he’s playing a different game altogether. In America’s bastion of male privilege and cult of success, winning the point is everything, and breaking the rules and getting away with it is the sign of a winner. So every time he went overtime, every time he interrupted, every time he flat out refused to stop talking, he was scoring points with his fans.
And in a political debate, that’s what it’s all about.
Political Score for Pence? If he hadn’t been upstaged by a fly, 90%.
As it was, he handed his detractors an internet meme with wings (sorry about that). When the public allows such a minor event to overwhelm coverage, it’s a sure indication of the significance of the real contestant in everyone’s minds.
The Bottom Line
Many commentators mentioned that the Vice-Presidential debate doesn’t really mean anything, but I think this one did. In this presidential contest between old men, it was important for potential voters to know that Biden has someone backing him who is strong, able, and willing to stand up, be counted and take over if she has to. Kamala Harris did exactly that.
A winner by any set of rules.
PS
Did you notice that every time Pence went overtime, and the moderator kept saying, “Thank you, Mr. Pence. Thank you. Your time is up, Mr. Pence” how difficult it was to stay tuned in to what he was saying? A good note for future moderators. If a guy keeps talking, keep talking over him.