Wednesday, October 5, 2016
VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
East Oregonian
Page 7A
Kaine attacks, Pence ights back in vigorous VP debate
Associated Press
FARMVILLE, Va. — Democrat
Tim Kaine aggressively challenged
Republican Mike Pence over a
long list of Donald Trump’s contro-
versial positions and statements
Tuesday night, drawing a vigorous
defense of Trump’s tax history.
But Pence sidestepped criticism
of Trump’s demeaning comments
about women, his public doubting
of Barack Obama’s citizenship
and broader questions about his
temperament.
Indiana Gov. Pence and Virginia
Sen. Kaine, who have received
little attention in a race focused
on Trump and Hillary Clinton,
faced off for 90 minutes in the
only vice presidential debate of the
campaign.
With the close White House race
perhaps starting to tip in Clinton’s
favor, Pence outlined a detailed
conservative agenda on tax policy,
entitlements and immigration. He
was markedly more prepared and
more detailed in his answers than
Trump was in last week’s irst pres-
idential debate. He was also more
consistent in painting the Demo-
cratic ticket as career politicians
unwilling to shake up Washington.
“Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine
want more of the same,” Pence
said. He also repeatedly accused
the Democrats of running an
“insult-driven” campaign — an
ironic attack line given that Trump
has leveled repeated insults against
Clinton and his former rivals in the
Republican primaries.
There was a striking difference
in the two men’s manner. Kaine,
Clinton’s usually easygoing No. 2,
went on the attack from the start,
repeatedly interrupting and chal-
lenging Pence. Pence, an equally
genial politician, was unlappable.
AP Photo/David Goldman
Sen. Tim Kaine, left, and Gov. Mike Pence answers a question during the vice-presidential debate at
Longwood University in Farmville, Va., Tuesday.
Kaine pressured Pence to
answer for some of his running
mate’s provocative statements,
using Trump’s own words such as
dismissing some women as pigs or
slobs. He also challenged Pence
on Trump’s decision to break with
decades of campaign tradition by
not releasing his taxes.
“Donald Trump must give the
American public his tax returns to
show he’s prepared to be president,
and he’s breaking his promise,”
Kaine said.
Asked about reports that Trump
might not have paid any federal
taxes for years, Pence said his
running mate “used the tax code
just the way it’s supposed to be
used, and he did it brilliantly.”
Records obtained by The
New York Times showed Trump
suffered more than $900 million
in losses in 1995 that could have
allowed him to avoid paying
federal income taxes for as many
as 18 years.
Kaine, too, defended his
running
mate’s
weaknesses,
chiely the public’s questions about
her honesty and trustworthiness.
He said that while Trump was
“selish,” Clinton had devoted
her career to helping children and
families.
Social issues were a bigger part
of the conversation than in the irst
presidential showdown, relecting
both candidates’ religious faith.
Kaine, a Catholic who person-
ally opposes abortion but has
consistently voted in favor of abor-
tion rights, said of the Republican
nominee, “Why doesn’t Donald
Trump trust women to make this
choice for themselves?” He also
pointed to Trump’s assertion that
women should face some kind
of “punishment” for abortion, a
comment Trump later walked back.
Pence, raised Catholic but now
a Protestant evangelical, stressed
his opposition to abortion and said
he was “proud to be standing with
Donald Trump” on the issue.
On national security, Kaine
revived Trump’s frequently lat-
tering comments about Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
“He loves dictators,” Kaine
said. “He’s got like a personal
Mount Rushmore: Vladimir Putin,
Kim Jong Un, Moammar Gadhai
and Saddam Hussein.”
Pence tried to lip the tables by
accusing Kaine’s running mate of
stoking Russia’s belligerence.
“The weak and feckless foreign
policy of Hillary Clinton and
Barack Obama has awaked an
aggression in Russia that irst
appeared in Russia a few years
ago,” Pence said. “All the while,
all we do is fold our arms and say
we’re not having talks anymore.”
On criminal justice, Kaine
argued that Trump’s embrace of
“stop and frisk” style policing
was a mistake. Pence argued that
Clinton has used police shootings
to argue that there is “implicit bias”
in police departments, and he said
the Democrats should “stop seizing
on these moments of tragedy.”
Kaine quickly shot back: “I
can’t believe you are defending the
position that there’s no bias.”
Tuesday’s contest was the only
time Kaine and Pence will face off
in this election, while Trump and
Clinton tangle in three contests.
Clinton was widely viewed as
the winner of her opening debate
with Trump, rattling the real estate
mogul with jabs about his business
record and demeaning statements
about women, and responding to
his attacks with calm rejoinders.
New public opinion polls have
showed her improving her standing
in nearly all battleground states.
At least some of Clinton’s
bounce is likely attributable to
Trump’s conduct coming out of the
debate. He redoubled his criticism
of a beauty queen and her weight,
one of the topics Clinton raised in
the debate, and went on a pre-dawn
Twitter tirade trying to disparage
the former Miss Universe.