More arguments and less testosterone: the vice-presidential debate

After the hyper-macho testosterone-charged presidential debate last week, the debate between the vice-presidential candidates, Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris, was expected to be more like a traditional, more policy-centered candidate debate. It delivered. In fact, it was borderline boring to the point that a fly that spent about two minutes on Pence’s forehead caused a Twitter uproar.

The issue that permeates and conditions absolutely everything in our governments and our lives right now, the coronavirus, took center stage. That, along with Trump and to a lesser extent, the economy and Biden received the most attention. This wasn’t surprising given Trump’s recent hospitalization but refusal to get a much-needed stimulus bill passed. The virus was the topic of the day-before spat over debate logistics: both campaigns had agreed to a protective plexiglass screen between the candidates then suddenly team Trump wasn’t having it.

Since Trump-world’s stance is that the coronavirus is nothing, despite the fact that some 23 people in his orbit have become infected, they continue to flout science and assert that masks aren’t necessary. They finally did agree to the plexiglass, but this just further set up Pence to have to go in a defend this sort of behavior. It doesn’t help that he’s led the White House task force on the coronavirus. It also doesn’t help that per CDC guidelines, Pence should be in quarantine. Indeed, he walked into this debate with one big target on his back.

And Harris took aim right from the start, saying that “The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country.” Pence, of course defended the administration’s response saying that what they did in the early days saved lives and chided Harris to “stop playing politics with people’s lives.” This is tough to square with the repeated denials of science, skirmishes with doctors and the 210,000 people dead. Harris concluded that “Frankly the administration has forfeited their right to reelection.”

With the U.S. so polarized, the debates offer us a side-by-side glimpse at the separate universes that each party and their supporters live in. Beyond truth and lives, there is no overlap…