When I was a child, we all knew that, in the event of a nuclear attack, we were to duck and cover! We practiced crawling under our desks, curling unto a ball, and covering our heads. Now had there been an actual nuclear blast, the only good that might have done was to spread the ashes a bit more evenly. That defense did Mike Pence even less good, when he used it against Tim Kaine’s onslaught of facts against both Pence and Trump.
Mike Pence defended Donald J. Trump by scarcely defending him at all.
For 90 minutes on Tuesday night, Mr. Pence, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, was asked, over and over, to carry out perhaps the most unenviable, thankless and futile task in American politics: answering for Mr. Trump’s cruel name-calling, factual distortions and radical proposals.
Instead, he dodged, deflected and demurred — deciding, it seemed, that all of the fires that Mr. Trump has set in the past year could not be doused in a single night.
When his Democratic rival, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, delivered a scorching rebuke of Mr. Trump’s affection for autocrats like Vladimir V. Putin and Saddam Hussein, both of whom he has praised, Mr. Pence, the governor of Indiana, looked over, weighed the message and promptly changed the subject.
“Did you work on that one a long time?” Mr. Pence mischievously asked his rival. “Because that had a lot of really creative lines in it.”…
From <NY Times>
He also lied without ceasing.
Here are three short clips from the Rachel Maddow Show.
In the first, Republican strategist Steve Schmidt projects Hillary’s future tactics.
The Republican is right. That’s what I think Hillary will do, and she will be right to do so.
In the second, Joy Reid critiques the way Kaine went after Pence.
I disagree with Joy. While Kaine was far more aggressive than I expected him to be, I don’t think he overdid it, as he demonstrated Pence’s inability to defend Trump by any means other than lie after painfully obvious lie.
In the third, Courtney Kube debunks a Pence lie about Trump idol, Vladimir Putin (R-RU).
Pence parroted lies like this all evening.
According to Daily Kos, Pence’s lying was so extreme that Correct the Record made a video about it.
In conclusion, I can summarize the best thing about the 2016 Vice Presidential debates in five words: it was the only one!
12 Responses to “Duck and Cover!”
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Tweet quoted in http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/4/1577994/-Trump-is-too-stupid-to-understand-that-Pence-just-launched-his-2020-campaign-by-running-from-him
"Second debate in a row where Trump can complain of a Mike that wasn't working for him."
Love that one!
That's rich!
Indeed
Going to have to disagree:
I think Pence did a solid job of defending the candidate … He WISHED he had
Mr. Kaine was aggressive and fact checked thoughout, I thought he made a very good presentation, imho.
Kaine 1, Pence 0
WOW !!! That was a one-sided debate! When the one on the WRONG right is capitulating, it makes for a bad 90 minutes for people that watch! Every time that Kaine would get Trump, Pence would act like he never saw it or never said it! What a buffoon! EVERY journalist said that Pence won the debate because he was "poised"! Ya gotta be RIGHT to win the debate, don't ya? He couldn't even tell the truth about things he said on tape, let alone Rump Dump Drumpf's YUUUGGE BS!!! LOL!
Agree with Pat! Score Dems 2 Reps NADA!
I watched and cringed every time Pence denied something Trump had said even when it had been recorded.
As I watched, I was aware that Pence was purposely dodging answering questions about Drumpf, sometimes neatly but others very obvious. He was however very composed, almost thoughtful compared to Kaine who seemed to be a man with a purpose. He was taking the fight to Pence. There were untruths on both sides but I think Pence came out on the short end of the stick. I'm not really sure that a winner could be declared.
Why is everyone so surprised about Pence either denying or lying about Drumpf's statements, dodging them, or when cornered saying the exact opposite? These are all Drumpf tactics we've become all too familiar with over the past year. It's very obvious that Drumpf has instructed Pence to do exactly as he does; that narcissist won't accept a rival and certainly not his VP.
What surprised me is Kaine, not Pence. He's noemally more cabbage patch doll than attack dawg.
Thanks all!! Hugs!!