The exchanges were often crabby and sometimes brittle, but they stayed firmly on the rails, in contrast to the raucous crack-up of the first 2020 presidential debate eight days earlier. Pence seemed occasionally to be trying but proved that he is simply not in President Donald Trump’s league when it comes to interrupting or ignoring an exasperated moderator’s plea to follow the rules and stop talking…

Yes, the vice presidency has a constitutional status, but in essence the debate was not really any different than a cable segment featuring dueling press secretaries from the opposing campaigns. If people were looking for a window into what Pence and Harris would be like as presidents themselves, they would only be satisfied if their hope was for a president who praises the person who selected him or her, and who answers questions with rehearsed lines that often are barely or not at all responsive to what is asked.

It is hard to see—Wait, is that fly on our screen at home? No, it is actually on Pence’s hair isn’t it? Beg your pardon. As we were saying, it is hard to see how this vice presidential debate could consequentially alter the main trajectory of the race or the underlying reputations of the running mates. Neither of the candidates claimed to know Jack Kennedy, and neither looks like a near-term prospect as being the next Jack Kennedy.