Milligan University students and individuals across the country gathered Wednesday evening to witness the first and only debate between potential vice presidential candidates.
Candidates answered questions regarding topics such as abortion, pandemic vaccines, criminal justice reform and foreign relations.
Senator Kamala Harris represented Democratic candidate Joe Biden, while current Vice President Michael Pence represented Republican President Donald Trump. The debate was moderated by Susan Page.
“Overall, I thought this debate was much more civil than the presidential debate,”
said Junior Bekah Owen. “I am not sure if everything was addressed that needed to be addressed but the moderator did her best.”
“Susan Page was the best moderator I’ve ever seen,” commented Drew Burton, a senior.“I would have liked candidates to be able to address issues a little more in depth, but Page kept them from just arguing and asked very specific and relevant questions.”
Burton agreed with Owens the depth of the debate.
“I feel like they are much better at being respectful but they never truly talked about the issues they needed to.”
According to USA Today, Susan Page also felt that not all of her questions were answered,
“I think sometimes I got prepared speeches instead of spontaneous responses.”
Regarding responses, both Harris and Pence struggled to contain their remarks within the limits set by Page. Both candidates were interrupted multiple times, but Senator Harris defended her speaking time with a firm reminder to the Vice President that she was speaking.
“I just want to know what they actually think,” said a frustrated Burton.
“It was like they couldn’t give specifics on anything and just argued about facts instead of opinions.”
Vice President Pence echoed this sentiment in his statement, “You’re entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.”
The main facts disputed by Senator Harris and the Vice President included whether fracking would be banned in the Biden administration, if Obama’s administration had lost a trade war to China, and President Trump’s view of the military.
“They skimmed the surface of a lot of good topics,” said Owen.
“In the instances they got their point across instead of defending their candidate were so compelling,” said Burton.“They are on polar opposite sides.”
The question regarding whether justice was done in the case of Breonna Taylor’s contained some of the clearest answers of the debate.
Senator Harris stated that Breonna deserved justice and was not given it, citing her conversations with Breonna’s family. She then stated that the Biden administration does not condone violence, but will fight for achieving ideals by banning chokeholds and creating a national registry for cops that break the law. She also spoke of their plans to eliminate cash bail, abolish private prisons and legalize marijuana.
On the other end of the political spectrum, Pence, while acknowledging his sorrow for loss of life, maintained firm trust for the justice system. He allowed no excuse for George Floyd’s death, but also allowed none for the rioting and looting that occured in the wake of his death. The Vice President reiterated that the Trump administration believes to assert that the justice system is systemically racist is an insult to police officers.
“Some foolish stuff was said,” commented Owen. “At least we could understand what they were saying this time.”
Headline photo: Senator Harris and Vice President Pence listen to Page’s questions in preparation for their answer.