And the winner of the Vice Presidential debate is…the fly! It reportedly stood on Mike Pence’s

And the winner of the Vice Presidential debate is…the fly! It reportedly stood on Mike Pence’s head for 2 minutes and 3 seconds and it was the highlight of the night. Truly. The debate itself was refreshingly normal, dare I say boring in the best way possible.

So who won? This may be controversial but I’m calling it a draw.

The reason I call it a draw? Because both candidates did what they needed to do. Harris needed to make the case against Trump and focus primarily on his poor handling of coronavirus in this country. She did that well. Her best answers were on COVID, social justice, and healthcare, pointing out that Trump still has no plan and is looking to cancel the Affordable care act including pre-existing conditions. I think she met expectations and her team is pleased with her performance. Fundraising has been through the roof during and after the debate so it seems supporters were very happy.

Pence needed to show that there is a calm voice amidst the chaos of the Trump campaign. He landed some good lines on foreign policy and he ably delivered conservative talking points on taxes and regulation. My guess is republicans and those leaning republican breathed a sigh of relief. Make no mistake, Pence agrees and owns Trump’s positions. He just delivers the message better. He also invokes patriotism as a tool that is appealing to people open to the GOP message.

So where did each candidate miss? First, there were questions that each didn’t answer although Pence dodged questions more. Furthermore, Pence interrupted both Harris and the moderator a lot, something that women are used to and that frustrates them to no end. This likely didn’t play well with women whose votes both campaigns are after. Pence also didn’t have an answer for a healthcare plan, how they’d keep coverage for pre existing conditions or why our death rates from COVID are higher than other countries. These won’t sit well with voters. But the question that will likely be most remembered is Pence’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if they lose…just like Trump.

For Kamala, the question that will reverberate most and that she didn’t directly answer is the one on packing the courts. Generally moderate voters don’t like the idea of packing the courts and you can expect that this question will come up again at the next Presidential debate. I actually think she also could have gone even harder on COVID pointing out that there was no national mobilization effort, governors were begging for help, and doctors had to wear garbage bags because we didn’t have enough PPE.

In the end, it was a fairly civil debate that likely won’t change the state of the race. Harris can claim a win because she did a good job promoting Biden and proved she would be a competent and strong Vice President. Pence can claim a win because he exceeded expectations and likely reassured some GOP voters that someone on the campaign can deliver a controlled message.

Both of them had plenty of looks and rolling of the eyes. Each claimed the other was lying. Both were the cheerleaders they needed to be. Tomorrow there will be another crisis and we’ll all move on.

What were your thoughts? Who do you think won? Let me know in the comments!