Considering the heated debate between the two presidential nominees a week ago, the vice presidential nominee debate has been a highly anticipated event. Stakes are really high for both parties and the country.
The current president, Donald Trump, is ailing with COVID-19, so the Republican Party is majorly hoping for Vice President Mike Pence to hold the torch. From the Democratic side, Kamala Harris is the vice president pick for Joe Biden. She has also started to bring key issues into play to demonstrate that she can pick up the vice president role if Joe Biden ends up winning the election.
The debate was quite peaceful as compared to the presidential debate. It was not as exciting compared to the Biden Trump showdown. Both nominees exchanged some sharp and pointed words regarding various policies taken by the parties. Coronavirus has been a measuring factor affecting the economy and the health of the country alike, so it came up more than a few times in the discussion.
While the discussion went on, Kamala Harris helped raise at least 5 million dollars for the Democratic Party. The fundraising service that was working overtime during the debate is called ActBlue. The amount was announced right after the event concluded in the live indicator. This gives a massive boost to the Democrats to continue the campaigning in the presidential election.
However, the amount was quite underwhelming as to what the Democratic nominee Joe Biden raised during his debate with the president. The amount came up to close to 10 million dollars.
Not much clarity coming from the debate
During the vice-presidential debates, the major arguments were about the future of the US presidency, and none of the parties shed much light on it. It leaves lingering questions about whether there will be a peaceful transfer of power to finding out if there is a question about presidential disability due to the coronavirus.
Vice president Mike Pence argued his points passionately. However, both candidates dodged the direct questions regarding their plans to discuss what happens if the presidential nominees were unable to take up their duties, and how the running mates will be able to fulfill the duties of the president in a time of crisis.
This has been one of the most asked questions in the past week ever since Trump tested positive. With the Republican Party showing a strong belief in Vice President Mike Pence as a replacement if there was a need for him to step up. However, since Donald Trump was discharged from the hospital and seemed to be in good spirits while returning to the White House, those discussions have simmered down at least somewhat.
The audience could also not understand if the vice-presidential nominees could answer what happens if the current president would not consider the election legible.
The impact of the vice presidential debate
Contrary to the presidential debate, the vice presidential debate does not seem to be stirring up a lot of emotion in the stock market or otherwise. It was quite standard and focused on the main issues. The candidates discussed their strengths and presented their points pretty mildly. Considering all sides, some experts are saying that the vice presidential debate seems like a clear draw.
According to Ross Douthat of the New York Times, the main takeaway of the debate is that the election result could be a lot closer than expected.
The moderator of the debate was Susan page, who relayed the questions of an eager audience. One of the Utah constituents asked how the vice-presidential nominees see a chance of alliance or union to serve the American public if they cannot get along.
On the abortion discussion, Mike Pence reinstated his faith in pro-life values and refused to be apologetic about it. He has refused to comment about how the Supreme Court nominee chosen by Donald Trump, Amy Coney Barrett, will uphold these values. There was some debate about whether there was a time allocation discrepancy between the candidates. Still, overall the peaceful debate was conclusive and did not stir up major trouble for the economy.
