Beyond this reassurance that two members of America’s political class are capable of tenth-grade level interaction, I don’t think the debate mattered to the election in any serious way…

However, overall Mike Pence turned in a very competent performance. I don’t find Pence an inspiring orator. I don’t think he’s all that politically canny or courageous. He’s not one for bold ideas. What he has is a character high in conscientiousness and low in neuroticism. Maybe some will find him a little low energy. But he comes across as unflappable. To a seasoned eye, it’s obvious that he studied his briefing books hard ahead of the debate and diligently rehearsed the important lines and questions.

He highlighted every area where Democrats are unpopular, tax raises, court-packing, and so on. He avoided talking about issues where Republican positions are less popular. Maybe Harris’ awkward evasion on court-packing puts more pressure on Joe Biden to answer. Personally, I don’t think Democrats will have the votes in the Senate to start packing the Court. But they don’t want to alienate progressive voters and progressive media on Twitter by saying it won’t happen.