It was the turn of the American Vice President contenders the other evening. As did most watchers, we gamely stuck with it for the first half hour. That was the limit that most could handle. It was not just bad television; it was bad politics. It was like watching children squabble. It was something that only a parent is genetically suited to handle.
That guy Pence from Indiana is a bully like his boss. And Virginian Tim Kaine was snapping at his opponent’s heals like a Chihuahua in heat. Neither paid much attention to their moderator, who was obviously the smarter of the three. Her only problem was that she could not seem to follow what the two candidates were talking about either.
Pence’s problem was that he had no defense for Trump and Kaine was bringing up Trump at every opportunity. Pence’s only claim was that he and Trump had a plan to use more coal. Pence appeared programmed to make the case for Trump and to ignore all questions and logic that might be used.
What was particularly annoying about Pence was from the get-go he was tearing down America. The America he describes is a sorry place and he seems to have no solutions but to vote for Trump and let disgusted Americans get even. The Trump team seems stuck with their slogan to “Make America Great Again” and they resent what progress has been made by others.
Pence’s answer to the most telling points from Kaine was to ignore them. He appears to feel that anything that has not gone well in world politics in the past 20 years is Hillary Clinton’s fault. If she was as old as Trump, they would also blame her for World War II.
But the Kaine-Pence event will soon be forgotten. The main contenders are due to meet in a town hall Sunday which could allow for more physical confrontation. A better alternative might be to have each presidential candidate in a sound proof room with the moderator capable of turning off the microphone and camera on each. That way there would be no more cross talk, interruptions or mugging as each candidate has a chance to have a say.
There is no question but that Americans would prefer to have adults running their country.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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