After the 2020 Vice presidential debate, the UH debate team felt obligated as an insider to the debate world to disclose their own thoughts on the debate. There was a lot of information to unpack and some debaters felt the need to provide their personal thoughts and insight on the night. It is vital to our democracy to allow everyone to be informed as possible during this election cycle, as versed voters lead to better outcomes. Information is vital to allowing everyone to make an informed decision to better our democracy. Jacob Huling (UH 2022), Kiran Khan (UH 2024), Trevor Woeste (UH 2024), and Spiro Hoxha (UH 2024) shared their thoughts over the VP debate. 

“Overall this debate was refreshingly substantive, at least more focused than the presidential debate. I was disappointed that Kamala didn’t call out Pence for pivoting on critical issues throughout the debate. I did think that Harris won, she gave voters a clear idea of what they vote for when they vote Democrat, and that’s what matters.” – Spiro 

“I thought the debate was more structured in comparison to the Presidential debate a few weeks before. This debate talked about some policy issues but not as many things as I would like. Vice President Mike Pence talked a lot about freedom and allowing each individual to express and maintain control with minimal government intervention. However, we can see how badly this hands-off approach worked with the COVID-19 response.” – Jacob (UH 2022)

“It felt like the most consequential debate because there is a higher chance than ever that the VP will replace the President in the next term. Overall it was better than the Biden v Trump debate, but both candidates dodged questions. Like all VP debates, it will probably be forgotten within a week.”-Trevor (UH 2024)

“I think Pence made some major mistakes that are unlikely to buy him much support from undecided voters such as saying that systemic racism doesn’t exist. I think Harris took a stronger approach on challenging the current Covid crisis and the White House’s lack of coordination on the issue, but one of her issues was obviously her stance on fracking which cited some inconsistencies within the platform. Overall, I think Kamala didn’t exploit the current administration’s handlings on issues as much as she could have which made Pence’s job on defense a little easier.” – Kiran (UH 2024)