Last night's Vice-Presidential debate might have lacked the excitement of the three headliner debates between Trump and Clinton, but they still grabbed a sizable audience - more than 50 million Americans tuned in.
Republican Mike Pence's goal was clearly to reassure conservatives and people of faith that Trump was worthy of their trust. Democrat Tim Kaine's priority was pinning Pence down with Trump's extreme comments. That forced Pence to sidestep or claim Kaine's characterization of the comments was misleading.
Just as Clinton was generally crowned the winner of the first Presidential debate, Pence seemed the consensus winner last night.
Did Kaine's aggressive approach backfire? Did both men work to position themselves as much for future Presidential runs as doing heavy lifts for their teams? Will evangelicals and fiscal conservatives feel better about voting for Trump?
Guests:
Angela T. Rye, a democratic analyst and CEO of IMPACT Strategies, a DC-based political consulting and government relations firm; she tweets @angela_rye
Sean T. Walsh, Republican political analyst and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco
Lori Cox Han, professor of political science at Chapman University