Clinton-Kaine and Trump-Pence supporters spin VP debate
FARMVILLE, Va. (Talk Media News) – Supporters of Vice Presidential candidates Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) did not waste time and claimed victory in the spin room Tuesday shortly after the debate concluded.
Hillary Clinton campaign spokesperson Karen Finney said Kaine clearly dominated the exchange largely because Pence did not sufficiently defend Republican nominee Donald Trump.
“He demonstrated he was not only very substantive; he kept Donald Trump front and center in the debate tonight and would not let Mike Pence run away from… you simply cannot possibly win a debate if you won’t defend your candidate; that is the job of the Vice Presidential nominee,” Finney said.
When asked of the back-and-forth counterpunches the two candidates exchanged over whether Clinton or Trump would be tougher on Vladimir Putin, Finney said Kane’s invocation of Clinton’s battle-tested diplomatic credentials stands in stark contrast to Trump’s previous praise of the Russian president as a strong and decisive leader.
“There is absolutely no question as Senator Kane was saying that Hillary Clinton would be tougher on Russia,” Finney said. “She’s actually been in the room to be tough on Russia before… He (Trump) has this odd praise over and over again of Vladimir Putin; saying he’s a better leader than [President] Barack Obama.”
Finney also said that Trump’s alleged a business dealing with wealthy Russian oligarchs complicates the scenario.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas.) said Pence was unquestionably the debate winner because Kane was forced to defend the arguably weak Obama-Clinton foreign policy record.
“He sounded downright silly when he said America is safer and more secure than it was eight years ago,” Hensarling said. “Nobody in America believes that.”
Hensarling was also critical of the role Clinton played helping to broker the Iran nuclear agreement while Secretary of State.
“What the Administration did was to absolutely legitimize Iran’s nuclear program,” Hensarling said. “On its best day they may slowed down the program, but at the same time they have released millions and millions of dollars to largest state sponsor of terrorism, so they can reign down missiles on Israel, so that they can work on their ballistic missile technology; this will go down as one of the stupidest foreign policy arrangements in the history of America,” Hensarling said.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who, like Kane, also served as governor of the Old Dominion, said the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate won the debate in part because Pence was forced to defend some of Donald Trump’s more controversial statements.
Warner predicted that the Clinton-Kane ticket will likely win Virginia on November 8.
“This year anyone who tries to make predictions on elections has a mixed bag at best,” Warner said. “But I think at the end of the day Hillary and Tim Kaine will carry Virginia.”
Former Virginia Republican Governor Jim Gilmore said Virginia is still a battleground state. Gilmore also said Kane performed poorly during the debate.
“Hillary Clinton has had an advantage but after this debate I think it’s probably a toss-up,” Gilmore said. “This was a terrible performance by Senator Kane. He has no case. There’s no case on the economy. He has no case on immigration. He has no case on national security.”
This article is republished with permission from Talk Media News
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.