That’s it from us tonight, people. That was the only VP debate we’ll get this campaign, so if you really want to savor it, start at the bottom of this live blog and scroll up. You can also listen to our wrap-up podcast for more.
What will the main storyline be Wednesday about the VP debate? Well, I asked our live blog staff to fill-in the blank: The main story line about this debate tomorrow will be ____________.
Here are our predictions:
Nate: The conventional wisdom rapidly seems to be congealing around something like the following — which I pretty much agree with: 1. Pence “won” on style/points, whereas Kaine was annoying and interrupt-y at some moments and sounded canned at others, but 2. Pence was unable/unwilling to defend Trump and had a lot of incongruities and fact-checking problems, and that’ll make for a big debate about the debate tomorrow.
Clare: Pence playing “traditional Republican” and totally breaking with Trump on Russia.
Carl: Pence either denying Trump said things he did say, or brushing them aside as the words of a politician who isn’t “polished.”
Harry: Pence turns in a better performance than Trump.
Farai: That Kaine seems genuinely excited to be Clinton’s VP, though sometimes with over-exuberance and smugness; and Pence seems willing to patiently deal with an endless barrage of questions about whether he actually supports the positions of his nominee.
Ben: Whatever Trump tweets later tonight. Or says tomorrow. Or whatever David A. Fahrenthold reports in The Washington Post tomorrow. Point being, I’d be surprised if anything from tonight lasts much beyond one news cycle. To the extent people DO talk about the debate, I suspect there will be two storylines: Kaine’s interruptions, and Pence’s reluctance to defend Trump’s more controversial statements.
Anna: Democrats will talk about Pence saying “whipping out that Mexican thing again”; Republicans will talk about Kaine’s interruptions. And then we won’t hear much about it after that, until Pence runs for office again.