Which Kamala Harris will show up? Five things to watch for in tonight’s VP debate
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Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris are set to face off Wednesday in their only debate.
While vice presidential debates have historically had little impact on the overall race, a lot is riding on how Pence and Harris perform. The debate, which begins at 8 p.m., will be available for viewing via livestream on houstonchronicle.com.
Here are five things to watch for tonight.
WHO IS PRESIDENTIAL?
With the health and ages of Trump, 74, and Biden, 77, Pence and Harris both are in a position to reassure the American public that they could step into the Oval Office, if need be.
Pence, 61, has a track record over the last four years that the public has been able to watch, while Harris, 55, was largely unknown outside of California until about a year ago. Both have the same task of assuring that they could lead the nation.
CALM
Unlike last week’s raucous debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, Wednesday’s showdown is likely to be a much more calm and professional, thanks to the backgrounds and personalities of Pence and Harris.
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Pence is a more polished and disciplined public speaker than Trump and has been seasoned through decades of political debate. Not only does he have the 2016 debates in his past, but he also served a dozen years in Congress and was Indiana’s governor for four years.
Harris is just as seasoned. A lawyer since 1990, Harris has been a district attorney and served for six years as the Attorney General of California.
POLICY FOCUS
Because of the chaotic nature of last week’s debate, there is additional pressure on both Pence and Harris to articulate the policy positions of Trump and Biden. There is no guarantee of another presidential debate, given President Trump’s bout with COVID-19.
A big piece of that policy dive will undoubtedly revolve around the coronavirus and the government’s response. Pence was chair of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and will be left to explain Trump’s decisions to intentionally downplay the virus, as well as the administration’s medical recommendations, which he spent months crafting with national health care experts.
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But when it comes to COVID-19, watch the tone of Harris. Since Trump’s diagnosis, the Biden campaign has taken down negative ads and tried to present a more positive message. Does Harris continue that approach? How far will she go in jabbing at the White House, given that Trump and the first lady are still recovering?
WHICH HARRIS SHOWS?
Harris showed two distinct approaches to debates during the Democratic Presidential Primary.
In her first debate, she was accused of being too aggressive for going after her then-rival Biden over issues related to race and integration. But when the debates came to Houston last Sept., Harris was much less confrontational — to a fault, some said at the time.
There is a potential for Pence to use some of Harris’s past criticism of Biden against both of the Democrats. But Pence, too, has some vulnerability there, given that he endorsed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz during the 2016 presidential primary before joining forces with Trump after Cruz dropped out.
CLIMATE POLICY
For Texans still on the fence, Harris’s tone on climate change could be big. Trump has continually warned that Biden’s climate change proposals would hurt the energy sector workers who remain a driving force in the Texas economy. Biden has sought to blunt that criticism by insisting his plan won’t hurt oil and gas workers and would help them transition into clean energy jobs.
But during the Democratic debates last year, Harris showed she was potentially more aggressive than Biden on climate change. During those debates, she relished in her efforts to sue big oil companies and reminded more liberal voters that when she worked as a district attorney in San Francisco she created that office’s first environmental justice unit.
Given how much Trump has talked about Biden being bad for Texas because of oil, it stands to reason Pence will try to accentuate Harris’s divergent stances on issues such as fracking. Last year she was clear that she supported ending fracking: “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.” But that runs counter to Biden, who in August told Pennsylvania voters: “I am not banning fracking.”