The Vice Presidential debate showcased one of the most meaningful debates in this 2016 Presidential election. Pence and Kaine both “offered an unexpected exchange of ideas about their deeply held religious beliefs” in this debate showing the voters where they stand and how the voters can relate to these men. The Presidential race this year  has been unlike any others with the way Trump speaks rhetorically, he uses “inflammatory rhetoric” that rubs many voters the wrong way. Pence, at the Vice Presidential debate, showed potential undecided voters (or fair-weather voters) that Trump’s ticket holds some experience and steadiness. Pence throughout the campaign has successfully appealed to the ethos of many voters that Trump alone could not grasp. When Pence was asked about American involvement in Syria, he answered fully and confidentially showing how prepared he was while Trump barely knows this plan himself. Pence seemed to be credible during the whole debate by his steady manner and tone. Pence may be hurting his companion more by showing voters the contrast to the man that could be your president. The Republicans are thinking why isn’t Pence our man? He may have been able to be a candidate to win instead of a figure head. Like we talked about in class, Pence is the master of deflecting and ignoring questions he doesn’t want to answer. Pence said he would defend his candidate when it came down to it but never did so during the debate, he more often deflected the questions and answered how he wanted to no matter what Trump said. Pence also stated that Trump has not said a lot of things that he has in fact said, not smart on the topic of rhetoric. Lying tells the audience that neither of the candidates are meant for the race because no one wants a liar as a president and of course no one wants two liars running their country. Hillary and Kaine are both in the same boat with many lies held under their belts as well. In the grand scheme of things, it looks like the Democratic side has less.

Sources:

The Vice-Presidential Debate: Substance and Style

 

 

Even in the Vice Presidential Debate, the main players were not forgotten. There was no debate during the 90 minutes whether or not the Vice Presidential candidates knew the other’s counterpart. Kaine jumped on Trump every chance he got and tried to force Pence to answer questions that Trump would not during the debate (i.e. About Trump’s tax return). Pence, a little  calmer and less offensive than Kaine, said Clinton’s name many times while he was attacking her but avoiding defending Trump’s name and honor, or even saying Trump’s name. After the Vice Presidential debate 29% of viewers moved towards Trump while only 18% of viewers said they moved to Clinton’s side. There is no doubt that Pence took the lead after this debate with his rhetoric moves borrowed from Trump. Pence shook his head politely and calmly and spoke deliberately while Kaine came off as an attack Terrior towards Trump and Pence. The over arching image of the debate would be Pence sitting disappointed while Kaine is annoying Pence like a mosquito with his bad etiquette and attacking questions.

Pence uses many of the same rhetoric strategies that Trump uses but better. When Trump viciously shakes his head when Clinton speaks, Pence calmly and gently shakes his when Kaine speaks.   Pence like Trump uses repeated words and phrases that the average American can understand and agree with. Pence throughout the debate repeated the words “safe,” “great” and “America” again and again resonating with many of the viewers.

The two candidates seem like they live in completely different worlds that don’t diverge together. Whether you think Pence is just a liar with his calm demeanor but civil attitude or think Kaine is not fit for the office because of his hot head, the Vice Presidential debate will be a distant memory when the next Presidential debate rolls around.

Souces:

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/10/05/cnn-poll-pence-wins-vp-debate-29-percent-move-toward-voting-trump/

Vice Presidential Debate: Candidates Play the Name Game

Which Vice Presidential Candidate won the social media debate? In most cases, looking at the debate from a rhetoric point of view, Pence wins in most aspects but on social media is the story the same? On Twitter and Facebook Mike Pence was trending on a greater volume than Kaine but Google showed something quite different. On Twitter “@Mike_Pence grabbed 60 percent of the conversation” and “picked up 22,000 new Twitter followers” while Kaine grabbed 40 percent of the conversation and “attracted 15,000 new followers.” Just like Trump, Pence grabbed the conversation on Facebook and Twitter but does that mean that Pence and Trump are the favorites, most likely not, it means that their topics are creating the most interest with the viewers watching the debate, good and bad interest. On the other hand, “more users googled Kaine (55 percent) than Pence (45 percent).” The Internet is becoming more and more important in Presidential campaigns because computers and access to them are becoming more and more prevalent. Of course Trump attracts a lot of attention on social media because his status before he ran for President. Even though Pence grabbed the a majority of attention on social media, “Kaine ended up winning the overall top social moment, with this jab at Pence: “He is asking everybody to vote for somebody that he cannot defend.'”

So, is the impact of social media in Presidential campaigns and debates a positive or a negative? It’s harder to decipher the tweets and posts of hundreds of thousands of people because everyone uses different language to express the same thing such as sarcasm, it’s harder for someone to understand a tweet than it is to watch someone say something in person and follow their body movements and facial expressions. In the case of the Vice Presidential Debate, millions of tweets were going out at one time, good and bad towards both candidates. The one overarching good quality of social media is the outreach that it contains. Social media keeps so many more people informed, whether accurate or inaccurate, more and more people care and gain interest because of the outreach of social media. Does the number of tweets and google searches correlate with who will win the election? In the last election it did, but will it foreshadow this election also?

Source:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-pence-tim-kaine-on-social-media-vice-presidential-debate/

Who won the Vice Presidential Debate? Without a doubt, Pence, he was fluid and prepared for every and all questions asked. Pence stayed grounded in his policies throughout the debate and defending his running mate tremendously. Pence, “would not let Kaine get away with the ridiculous claim that the Iran deal ended that anti-American regime’s nuclear power.” Pence handles questions and attacks better than his running mate, Donald Trump. Does Pence’s professional elegance emphasize how unprofessional Trump is? From a republican point of view Trump looks like he picked the perfect running mate to handle the real business with years of experience. From a Democrat’s point of view, his nonchalant professional attitude emphasizes how crazy Trump is.

Both Pence and Kaine were familiar with policies of their own parties. Kaine was more interested in attacking Trump than answering the questions asked by the moderator. Kaine attacked Trump on issues that Pence could not and would not defend and the audience could tell. When Kaine made these attacks Pence just deflected or did not answer, showing the audience how professional and calm he is. Pence “made a point of highlighting Kaine’s painfully rehearsed lines” which rhetorically harmed Kaine’s potential of winning the debate.

My personal favorite question of the debate: Why voters should trust “Insert Presidential Candidate.” Pence “focused more on opponent Clinton’s shortcomings policy than his candidate’s qualities.” Even Pence has a hard time finding extraordinary qualities Trump posses. Kaine, on the other hand, said because “her strong, lifelong dedication and passion for service.” Pence won overall in this debate but Kaine handled this question better than his opponent.

In this election, the two Presidential candidates are figure heads. It’s all about Trump and Clinton, so does the Vice presidential debate even matter? Does Pence winning this one debate counteract the Presidential debates? Probably not, the Vice Presidential debate is marginal compared to the President’s themselves debating in this election.

 

Sources:

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2016/10/05/analysis-mike-pence-handily-wins-vice-presidential-debate-n2228206

https://news.vice.com/article/live-coverage-of-the-vice-presidential-debate-between-mike-pence-and-tim-kaine-end

Watching the Vice Presidential debate I was shocked as to how the two pairs of candidates came to work together. Each Presidential candidate found a vice presidential candidate that would balance them out. Pence is the antithesis of Trump and Kaine is the antithesis Clinton.

In the Presidential debate I watched Trump interrupt Clinton many times, get too heated, shake his head forcefully when he heard something he didn’t like, avoid questions, avoid personal stories and push harsh questions towards Clinton. Pence on the other hand stayed calm, answered questions fully and with common language, connected with the audience, never raised his voice and spoke on his experience. Someone like Trump needs someone to balance him out in the race because if he didn’t then people would think he was just to much of a hot head. It helps the voters see that Trump will have much support from an experienced man in politics.

In the Presidential Debate Clinton stayed calm, avoided all attacks made by Trump, laughed off the little things, made snide comments to the audience to try to connect, spoke on her plans extensively, uses personal stories and answered to many different groups of people that may be on the fence. Kaine on the other hand, gets too heated when a topic that he doesn’t like comes up, interrupts Pence, uses political jargon, visually blushes and avoids certain questions.

These pairs are both a force not to be reckoned with. When the vice presidential candidate so perfectly compliments the presidential candidate only time will tell who will win this 2016 election.