Hoosier Daddy Trumps Talky Tim Kaine

By Debra J. Saunders Ive not had a lot of use for Mike Pence since Donald Trump chose the Indiana governor to be his running mate. The Hoosier who describes himself as a Christian a conservative and a Republican in that order never seemed like a natural fit for the casino owners ticket. In April when Pence announced he would vote for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the GOP presidential primary he cited Cruzs knowledge of the Constitution. Now hes stumping for a candidate who thinks everythings negotiable. Tuesday nights debate however cast Pence in a new light. Hes the canny Christian conservative who understands that making the election about American decline under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama provides the only path for a Republican win. Also Pence has mastered that look of umbrage at Kaines repeated efforts to tie the Hoosier to Trumps often ill-chosen rhetoric. The straight-and-narrow governor has this way of projecting his view that its beneath critics to tie the GOP ticket to Trumps remarks because well everyone knows Trump will say anything. Over time Pences posture could get old but when you see it for the first time in a debate its convincing. Many have criticized Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine for his frequent interruptions. But I think Kaines biggest problem is that he treated the debate as if it were a word game not a battle of ideas -- first you whack your opponent for something he or the nominee said in an effort to put the other team on the defensive then you throw in some gotcha sound bites and you win. That approach might work well in a junior high debate but it represents a problem that has plagued the 2016 election and sowed voter discontent. When network news shows devote days and weeks to the latest outrageous quote to pop out of Trumps undisciplined mouth they have devolved from reporting important events to serving as game show referees. To many Americans the economy is stalled and our image abroad has soured. The threat of Islamist terrorism looms. American voters are anxious about their future -- and the sorry state of political discourse has done nothing to reassure them. Words matter but voters care most about the thoughts behind them. Exchanges between Kaine and Pence on Vladimir Putin highlight the great political disconnect. Kaine started it when he said the GOP ticket loves Russia and These guys have praised Vladimir Putin as a great leader. PolitiFact reported that Kaines statement was accurate: Trump gave Putin an A for leadership while Pence said its inarguable that Vladamir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country. But Kaine lost that round because he made it all about words -- what Trump said what Pence said -- divorced from the reality that the thuggish Putin thinks hes stronger since Clinton pushed the Russian relations reset button. OK: Clinton speaks with sophistication about Russia while Trump sometimes sounds as if he has a crush on its shirtless strongman. But Putin was undaunted by Clintons accomplished vocabulary. Thats what Pence understands and Kaine seems not to.