Beware, President in Full Rout

In theory, it was a more civilized debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris, the exact opposite of the bewildering spectacle that President Donald Trump put on during the first presidential debate a week ago. In reality, it was the same dialogue of the deaf, in which Vice President Pence, defender of the indefensible, worked to civilize Trumpism with twisted efficiency, but not without condescension and mansplaining.

All smiles, Democrat Harris did not let it get to her on Wednesday night. “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking,” she said. Nor did she take any nonsense. “The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country,” she said, in reference to the health crisis. But we still wish it had been more biting when the Republican vice president tried to pass Trump off as a sensible environmentalist; when he wrongly accused the Democrats of politicizing the coronavirus crisis; and when he denied, against all evidence, that the Trump administration’s Supreme Court battle with the Affordable Care Act would deprive many Americans of health insurance.

True, these debates are often less of a debate and more a game of dodgeball, something Pence is extremely good at. It is true that, in this case, and polls so far prove them right, the Democrats’ campaign strategy has largely consisted of allowing the current president to self-destruct and letting reality speak for itself, so much so that it is becoming clear to a majority of voters that Trump’s management of the crisis is grossly incompetent. It is also true that Harris, for whom it was necessary to look “presidential,” had to deal with the cultural vice that deprives women of the right to be aggressive.

This unique vice-presidential debate was expected to be particularly significant, especially for Sen. Harris, 55, and the first woman of color to take part in such an exercise, but also for Pence, 61, as they are both the running mates of much older presidential candidates (Joe Biden, who is almost 78, and Trump, who is 74). This makes them both the future of their respective parties — and apt representatives of two Americas which have their knives drawn: She, a progressive woman, he, an evangelical white man. But the fact remains that, for the time being, this is a debate that will probably have little impact, given the entrenched positions of the electorate. A stoic Pence did a good job with the Republican base, forcefully avoiding issues, and a captivating fly in his hair for a few long seconds, but it is highly doubtful that he has significantly slowed Trump’s decline in voter support. (A CNN pre-debate poll showed a gaping 16-point gap.)

This was a debate that won’t change anything, especially since Trump, doped up on steroids since his hospitalization, quickly regained control of the agenda on Thursday morning, by announcing on Fox News that he was not interested in next presidential debate scheduled for Oct. 15 after the Commission on Presidential Debates decided that it would be virtual, and then in the very same interview, launched into a sexist tirade against Harris.

With less than a month to go before the Nov. 3 presidential election, Trump is demonstrating how dangerous he is a little more each day. He is dangerous in light of the hallucinatory staging of his “recovery” Monday night at the White House, in light of the fact that he continues to downplay the seriousness of the epidemic as it worsens nationwide, and as the White House has become a hotbed of infection. He is dangerous in light of how he is hammering home the fact that absentee voting is a prelude to gigantic electoral fraud, a claim which Pence reiterated during the debate, and that such claims are a covert incitement to right-wing violence.

The decision on Tuesday to break off negotiations with the Democrats regarding a new economic rescue plan for people and companies, the first phase of which expired two long months ago, until after the election is extremely harmful. But 1 of 5 five small and midsize businesses have gone bankrupt so far — that’s 850,000 businesses — and to give just one more example, 3 million restaurant workers have lost their jobs. With the U.S. economy nearing the breaking point, economists of all stripes are calling for an emergency aid plan, including Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who was appointed by Trump in 2017 and who is far from being a supporter of the “radical left.”