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Students react to vice-presidential debate

By MORGAN OME | October 6, 2016

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U.S. Dept. of Edu./CC By 2.0 and Gage skidmore/cc By-sa 3.0 Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Governor Mike Pence (R-IN) debated in Virginia on Tuesday night.

The general election’s vice presidential debate viewing party was hosted by the Hopkins College Democrats, College Republicans, IDEAL and JHUnions on Tuesday evening at Nolan’s.

The two vice-presidential candidates, Governor Mike Pence with Donald Trump and Senator Tim Kaine with Hillary Clinton, faced off at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. The debate was moderated by CBSN’s Elaine Quijano.

During the debate, the candidates primarily defended their running mates from controversies surrounding their campaigns, such as Trump’s failure to disclose his tax returns, Clinton’s use of a private email server and the use of funds by both the Clinton and the Trump Foundations.

The candidates also discussed the topics of community policing, foreign policy in the Middle East and the role of religion in politics.

Pence lauded Trump for his business acumen, citing the creation of jobs and the monetary worth of Trump’s ventures as evidence of his strength.

“This is probably the difference between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and Senator Kaine. Hillary Clinton and Senator Kaine, and God bless you for it, career public servants, that’s great. Donald Trump is a businessman. Not a career politician. He actually built a business,” Pence said.

Kaine spoke of Clinton’s long history of public service and praised her ability to work with people from all political backgrounds in various contexts.

When discussing their respective ticket’s foreign policy goals, the conversation centered around how each candidate would address Russian aggression. Kaine called out the Trump-Pence platform for praising Vladimir Putin.

“If you don’t know the difference between dictatorship and leadership, then you got to go back to a fifth grade civics class,” Kaine said.

Pence deflected Kaine’s attacks by criticizing Clinton’s work as Secretary of State.

“The truth of the matter is the weak and feckless foreign policy of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has awaken[ed] an aggression in Russia,” Pence said.

Kaine attacked many of Trump’s past comments, noting that Trump’s words demonstrate his character.

“When Donald Trump says women should be punished or Mexicans are rapists and criminals, or John McCain is not a hero, he is showing you who he is,” Kaine said.

Pence responded by observing the frequency at which Kaine was mentioning Trump’s remarks on Mexicans.

“You whipped out that Mexican thing again,” Pence said. “There are criminal aliens in this country, Tim, who have come into this country illegally, who are perpetrating violence and taking American lives. He [Trump] also said that many of them are good people.”

Later in the debate, Quijano shifted to religion, asking the candidates to recall a time when they struggled to balance their personal faith with the responsibility of public office. Kaine said that he personally opposed the death penalty due to his Catholic faith but as governor of Virginia still oversaw executions when mandated by law.

“With regard to when I struggle, I appreciate and I have a great deal of respect for Senator Kaine’s sincere faith. I truly do,” Pence said. “But for me, I would tell you, for me the sanctity of life proceeds out of the belief that ancient principle that where God says before you were formed in the womb I knew you. And so from my first time in public life, I sought to stand with great compassion for the sanctity of life.”

Pence stated that in Indiana, he sought to increase alternative health care options for women considering abortions. He underscored his belief that if an individual is pro-life, they should also be pro-adoption. In contrast to Kaine, Pence stated that his faith informs his decisions, which is why he is proud to be running on a pro-life ticket.

“We really feel like you should live fully and with enthusiasm with the commands of your faith, but it is not the role of the public servant to mandate that for everybody else,” Kaine said.

Although the event was not as well attended as the first presidential debate viewing party, students from different years and political affiliations came to watch the debate. Senior Carli Heiman, Communications Chair of Hopkins College Democrats, explained the purpose of the viewing parties.

“We host [viewing parties] with IDEAL, [JHUnions], and College Republicans... We think [co-hosting shows] a bipartisan effort and that it’s really just students getting educated about politics,” Heiman said. “It’s not just a partisan event. It’s really for all students to learn and to not just be swayed one way or the other.”

Students reacted differently to the candidates’ performances. Sophomore AJ Tsang thought Kaine was more successful in proving his capability as vice president.

“Kaine passionately showed the tact and skill that have defined our nation’s greatest Vice Presidents, such as Joe Biden and Lyndon Johnson,” Tsang wrote in an email to The News-Letter. “Especially in the discussions around Syria and Russia, Kaine clearly demonstrated that, if the need arose, he possesses the knowledge and understanding to serve as a progressive, globally-minded President. Pence, on the other hand, illustrated that his ticket may fray our ties with other nations and the world.”

Joe Klein, a Republican sophomore, felt the vice presidential debate had a different tone from the first presidential debate.

“I thought Pence did what he needed to do, and that was stop the bleeding that began last Monday with Trump’s debacle,” Klein wrote in an email to The News-Letter. “Both candidates actually stuck to policy, a stark [contrast] from last week — it was one of the more substantial days of the campaign so far. As far as Kaine, he also did what he wanted to do — attack Trump over and over again.”


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