Vice presidential debates are often the comic relief of election season. For example, Joe Biden supplied a lifetime worth of gifs for his debate with Paul Ryan in 2012. This year, however, the vibe will be different. For one thing, the man at the top of the Republican ticket has provided an overabundance of self-parody. By comparison, both candidates facing off tonight are pretty colorless.
That’s not to say that there isn’t the potential for some interesting moments. The primary opportunity will come if Mike Pence is asked to explain his position on Indiana’s religious liberty law. Pence so badly mishandled that his fellow Republicans all but threw him at Trump so that they wouldn’t be saddled with him running for re-election.
Related: Mike Pence’s Seven Most Vicious Homophobic Moments (There’s A Lot To Choose From)
Pence signed the religious liberty bill in a behind-closed-door ceremony attended by some of Indiana’s biggest homophobes. It was all downhill from there. Businesses objected strenuously to the measure, with some pulling their business from the state. Indiana became a laughingstock on late night television.
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Making it all that much worse was Pence’s performance. Here was his chance to shine on the national stage. Yet in media appearance after media appearance, Pence gave the appearance of a man who had only recently been introduced to the English language. In short, he looked like an idiot, and his approval ratings quickly came to resemble the IQ of one.
Now Pence may have chosen to look like an idiot than admit he is a dyed-in-the-wool homophobe. But there’s every reason to believe that Pence is just lousy under the media spotlight. When 60 Minutes interviewed him with Donald Trump last July, Pence virtually disappeared. In an appearance on ABC’s This Week last month, Pence badly floundered trying to defend Trump’s birtherism on Hillary Clinton.
Related: While You Were Sleeping, Donald Trump Went On A Twitter Rant About A Sex Tape
Compared to Trump, of course, Pence is Thomas Jefferson. Neither Pence nor Tim Kaine has a killer’s instinct in a debate, so the debate will probably feel like an extended PBS segment. But keep an eye out for Pence’s inability to defend the indefensible.
If he couldn’t make the case for a law that he really believed in, how ever will he be able to sell Donald Trump?
Stilinski26
Hes a daddy, too bad He is homophobic
teddybear111
HE IS A NASTY IGNORANT HOMOPHOBIC JERK. A TRULY EVIL MONSTER
zipperzone
The thought of a TRUMP Presidency is bad enough. Having Pence on the ballot makes it even scarier – if that is possible.
Imagine if the Donald were to be terminated by some rabid nut case (just saying, lots of people are predicting that) and we get Pence as the glorious leader. He would probably want to round up all the gays and bring back the gas chambers, or at the very least have them castrated and put in a penal colony in Alaska with Sarah you-no-who as the commandant.
Thank God I’m a Canadian.
Alistair Wiseman
@zipperzone:
Yes, thank God you are a Canadian.
joeyty
@zipperzone: Why do Canadians always have so much to say about U.S. politics ??
blackhook
@joeyty: Because nothing *ever* happens in Canada …except bus beheadings, pig farmer mass murders & hockey riots.
joeyty
@blackhook: LOL. Well……..actually, most of Canada is quite admirable…it’s just SOME of them have it too easy, I guess, and have to go butting in.
scotshot
@Alistair Wiseman:
How are things in Europe.
scotshot
@joeyty:
They have to live upstairs from their white trash neighbors to the South who embarrass us the world over.
scotshot
@joeyty:
That’s because they have better healthcare.
scotshot
Too badc for us that human rights aren’t on anyone’s agenda this election.
level75RDM
No. In fact, Kaine had a golden opportunity to challenge him on this and he ignored it. Instead, he acted like an explosive child, as if the roles had been reversed from the first debate. Kaine was an embarrassment to watch tonight.
joeyty
@scotshot: I’d be embarrassed if I lived too close to Detroit too.
joeyty
@scotshot: Because they’re in a lilly-white society where everyone behaves.
Baba Booey Fafa Fooey
@level75RDM: Tim Kaine did not come off well. I was never sold on him as VP. Pence I was impressed with but he has his anti-gay, pro-life views and I just can’t accept that. But, he would be a good contender for Republicans in 2020. He speaks eloquently, stable and appealing.
Bauhaus
@Baba Booey Fafa Fooey:
For once, a Democrat had balls and wasn’t a total pushover. Pence was slimy, shilling for a creep.