Pence and Harris Debate Prep
Caroline Amenabar/NPR; Gage Skidmore/Flickr
We ran the numbers: There are 1578 news articles covering this topic. 48% (752) are left leaning, 45% (712) are center, and 7% (114) are right leaning.
After a chaotic and hostile first presidential debate, we are anticipating the upcoming vice presidential debate. Left leaning articles look at how Kamala Harris can perform in this debate so as to win favor amongst Biden voters. On the right, many say that mainstream media and debate moderators have not been pressing Biden and Harris on certain issues, allowing them to get away with not sharing full information.
A left leaning article written by The Hill speculates on the upcoming Vice Presidential Debate. As the Whitehouse is dealing with an internal outbreak of Covid, Pence will need to stand against Kamala Harris and defend the Trump Administration’s approach to the Covid crisis. Trump’s positive Covid test came after his harshly criticized debate performance a few days before. Now, Pence is left to pick up the pieces of a questionable debate performance and a Covid infected president. The article also discusses the sensitive nature of Kamala Harris’s debate plans. She will need to hold Trump’s administration for the bungled Covid management, however, she must do so at a time when Trump’s health is still uncertain. She must be careful so as not to be insensitive to the president’s condition, while still holding him accountable. IT will be interesting to see how she balances all considerations.
A centrist article published by NPR also speculates on the upcoming debate. Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris will stand, separated by plexiglass, in front of the American people. The Biden Harris campaign requested the plexiglass, and the Commission on Presidential Debates accepted the request. NPR, similar to The Hill, also discussed the sensitive nature of Harris’s debate strategy. The former prosecutor must figure out a way to aggressively target Pence and the Trump Administration’s handling of Covid, while still maintaining respect for the sitting president who may still be suffering from the virus.
RNC Committeewoman for California, Harmeet Dhillon spoke on a right leaning video segment from Fox News. She spoke about her expectations for the upcoming debate. She argued that moderators and mainstream media have been asking Trump inflammatory questions, while allowing Biden and Harris to “skate by” without answering certain questions. Dhillion also argued that Biden and Harris’s refusal to answer certain questions about packing the Supreme Court shows the likelihood of their plans to shift the country in a radically left direction. A centrist article published by The Hill outlines viewership trends in the debates. Fox News had the most viewers, followed by ABC and then CNN. Wednesday’s Vice Presidential Debate drew about 50.5 million viewers, which is about 26% more than the 2016 debate between Sen. Tim Kaine and VP Mike Pence. The most viewed Vice Presidential Debate is that between Joe Biden and then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, generating about 69 million viewers.
A right leaning article from Fox News looks at Kamala Harris’s refusal to answer questions about packing the court. Pence said that “the American people really deserve an answer.” He added that this is a classic threat from Democrats - “if you can’t win by the rules, you change the rules.” Harris did not respond to the question and Pence continued pressing her for an answer. Eventually, Harris responded by saying that “American people deserve to make the decision of who will serve for a lifetime.” With conflicting opinions on whether or not the Republicans can and should replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the Republicans have said that it is proper action because the White House and Senate are both controlled by the Republican party.