Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence faced off Tuesday night in the only vice presidential debate of the 2016 campaign season.
CBS News journalist Elaine Quijano moderated the debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia — the state Kaine represents in the U.S. Senate. He is Hillary Clinton’s running mate. Pence, Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, is the governor of Indiana.
The stakes are high for both men who, as many say, would be just a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Kaine opened the debate by answering a question as to why he would be able to step right into the job, by talking about his experience as a politician who has served as a city councilman, a mayor, a lieutenantgovernor and a U.S. senator.
He defended Clinton by saying she has a passion to serve others by putting them first while Trump puts himself first. He said when Clinton became secretary of state, Osama bin Laden was alive and Iran was building a nuclear arsenal.
Pence says he also has a lifetime of experience growing up as a “small-town boy” in Indiana, to become governor of the state.
He came to Trump’s defense by accusing Clinton and Kaine of waging an “insult-driven” campaign.
Democratic ticket hopes to build lead
In tonight’s debate, Kaine will attempt to extend an upward bump for the Democratic ticket in national-opinion polls after Clinton’s strong performance last week. Pence will attempt to steady the Republican ticket after Trump’s rocky performance.
The first Clinton-Trump showdown drew a record television audience for a presidential debate, more than 80 million people tuned in.
The Kaine-Pence debate is likely to draw fewer viewers, if history is any guide.
The 2008 debate between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Sarah Palin drew nearly 70 million viewers, the largest audience for any vice presidential debate in history.
Pence has been busy on the campaign trail, but is often overshadowed by Trump. The Indiana governor regularly is asked to defend some of Trump’s claims and controversial statements, but he also tries to project a campaign image of his own, as he did during a recent rally in Mesa, Arizona.
“I promise you that the Trump-Pence team is going to work our hearts out every day of the week until we revive ‘the American dream’ for every American, regardless of race or creed or color or gender. We are going to bring the American dream back to life.”
Kain campaigns in the shadow of Hillary Clinton. He often appears in states where the Democrats’ chances of winning are marginal, since he is seen as a less polarizing and moderate politician. He rallied supporters recently with a bipartisan pitch in Texas, solid Republican territory.
“Let’s just treat each other as equals,” he said, “and that is the kind of person Hillary is, and that is the kind of person I am, and that is the kind of person all of you are. That unifies us.”
The vice presidential debate is sandwiched between the first Clinton-Trump faceoff on September 27 and the second presidential debate, scheduled for Sunday in St. Louis.
Republicans looking to rebound
Republicans may be looking to Pence to stem the bleeding the party has suffered in opinion polls since the first debate.
Matthew Dallek, a political analyst from The George Washington University, said the first Clinton-Trump debate gave voters a reason a reason to decide not to vote for Trump, “but also maybe gave young people, African-Americans, Latinos – you know, key constituencies that Hillary Clinton needs to win – more motivation potentially to turn out to vote affirmatively for her.”
Most analysts agree that vice presidential debates rarely produce a sizeable swing in pre-election public opinion. But Trump is pinning comeback hopes on a strong performance in Sunday’s second debate, and Republicans are hoping Pence can lay some of the groundwork for that in arguing against Kaine. Democrats look to Kaine to keep the focus on Trump.
Jim Malone contributed to this report.
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