The Patriot Post® · Pence Prevails

By Gary Bauer ·
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/74034-pence-prevails-2020-10-09

I have been in presidential debates myself. I have watched a lot of presidential debates in person and on TV. I have rarely seen a more effective presentation by a candidate than the one delivered by Vice President Mike Pence last night. He was Reaganesque.

And you know, he was effective because a lot of progressive commentators are saying that vice-presidential debates don’t matter!

If you did not watch Wednesday night’s vice-presidential debate, even if you are already committed, I still urge you to watch it today. It will help you make the case to other family members, friends, and other undecided voters you know.

Here are some additional thoughts:

Moderator Susan Page did a better job than Chris Wallace, who should do everyone a favor and leave Fox News for CNN or wherever else he may feel more comfortable. But her liberal bias was still evident in other ways.

While both candidates spoke for the same amount of time, Page interrupted Pence multiple times. But he was wise enough and calm enough to continue making his point rather than getting into a debate with her.

There was something else that was very telling. Many of the questions Page asked Pence either repeated Democrat talking points or focused on the left’s preferred issues. She seldom pressed Harris in a similar manner.

For example, Biden has made multiple missteps while talking about black Americans, including telling a black radio host “You ain’t black” if you vote for Donald Trump.

Page could have easily asked, “Senator Harris, do you think Joe Biden is speaking appropriately to black Americans when he makes statements like that or refers to them in menial roles like stocking shelves?”

There was nothing from Page about Biden’s ties to communist China. She also could have asked Harris to explain her remark comparing ICE agents to the KKK.

When China did come up, the vice president noted that Joe Biden has spent his entire career cheerleading for communist China. Biden supported terrible trade deals that traded our manufacturing jobs for cheap Chinese goods. There is no sign that Biden and Harris will do anything to reverse this terrible trend.

By the way, when Vice President Pence was going after China, the Chinese communists literally censored him on state media broadcasts of the debate. When Pence was finished, they restored the visual feed as Harris began talking. That speaks volumes about which candidate the communist Chinese are rooting for.

Kamala Harris had a number of shameful moments and repeatedly lied through her teeth. For example:

  • The president never called the coronavirus a “hoax.” Why would he support shutting the country down for a hoax?

  • The president never called white supremacists “very fine people.” Even CNN has debunked this, but Biden and Harris continue to knowingly stoke racial division in our country. That speaks volumes about their character.

  • Harris repeated the vile smear that Trump insulted our soldiers and veterans. Twenty-one officials, including John Bolton, have rejected that claim.

  • Harris said Trump failed to confront Russia over its alleged bounties on U.S. soldiers. Well, that intelligence was unconfirmed and the president was never briefed on it. But we do know that Iran was paying bounties for dead Americans, and Biden and Harris objected when Trump took out Qassem Soleimani. They also want to reward Iran with another outrageous nuclear deal.

  • Harris lied when she said Joe Biden didn’t want to ban fracking. Biden said in a debate with Bernie Sanders, “No new fracking.” That sure sounds like a ban to me.

  • Harris even lied about “Honest Abe” delaying a Supreme Court appointment until after his reelection.

But there was another moment that was even worse.

Endangering Public Health

Harris was asked if she would take a vaccine developed during the Trump administration. She answered, “If Donald Trump tells us we should take it, I’m not taking it.”

The vice president rightfully countered that she and Joe Biden were endangering public health by undermining what we all know can stop the virus, which is vaccines. And they are coming in record time.

Here’s something else to consider: Because of a variety of health problems in the black community, the mortality rate among blacks who contract COVID-19 is three times greater than their percentage of the population. Many stories have been written lately about the disparate impact of the virus on minority communities.

When a vaccine becomes available, a strong case could be made that the elderly of all races and minorities in general should be a higher priority to receive the vaccine. But a woman minorities look up to, as the first woman of color to run for vice president, has just told them not to take the vaccine.

Harris just cost lives in the black community. She ought to be ashamed of herself.

The fact that the media are not calling her out for this shows just how committed they are to defeating any conservative president and empowering the far left in America.

And just in case it wasn’t already clear that the left is exploiting the coronavirus for its own political purposes, Jane Fonda said this as she was urging people to vote for the Biden/Harris ticket: “I just think COVID is God’s gift to the left.”

By the way, on the same night that Harris offered a weak rejection of violence, a mob attacked the homes of people in a small Wisconsin town over an event they had nothing to do with. I guarantee you there will be no statement today from Biden or Harris condemning these attacks.

New Developments

President Trump spoke on the White House lawn Wednesday and praised the medical treatment he received at Walter Reed Medical Center. He highlighted Regeneron, one of the drugs he received to treat coronavirus, as well as another one being developed by Eli Lilly.

The president said he wants to make these drugs widely available and free so that anyone in the hospital struggling with the virus can get the same treatments he received. Regeneron and Eli Lilly are now asking the FDA for emergency use authorizations for their COVID therapeutics.

These developments are happening virtually every day, and the administration is getting virtually no credit. But thanks to the president aggressively cutting through the red tape, the death toll has been declining even though the disease is spreading.

The Next Debate

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced that the next presidential debate, scheduled to be held on October 15th, will be conducted virtually with President Trump and Joe Biden appearing from remote locations.

The idea is totally outrageous, and the president quickly rejected the new format, saying, “They’re trying to protect Biden. Everybody is.” He’s right about that. The media are totally in the tank for Biden.

The Trump campaign is now recommending that the second and third debates be delayed a week to October 22nd and October 29th. The Biden campaign, however, does not want another debate after the 22nd.

Here’s the obvious problem with a “virtual debate:” If the candidates were allowed to appear remotely, there’s no way to guarantee that Biden wasn’t being assisted off camera in some way.

For example, what if they had trouble getting his teleprompter to keep up? That would be really embarrassing during a nationally televised debate!