VP Debate Rundown and Open Thread

Last updated on: October 8, 2020 at 1:25 pm by Libby Anne

VP Debate Rundown and Open Thread 2020-10-08T13:25:22-04:00 Libby Anne

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Yesterday was the 2020 vice presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence. I know this is a bit late to the game, but I thought I’d put a few thoughts down and open the forum for further discussion.

I agree with everyone who has said that the debate was meaningful to any woman who has ever been talked over by a man. Pence was not as bad as Trump last week, but he was still bad enough that at one point the moderator asked him whether his team had briefed him on the rules. He was bad.

I also think we shouldn’t underestimate the importance of having women on the stage in moments like this—and not just a woman, a woman with Jamaican and Indian immigrant parents. The more debates we have that look like this, the more debates between two white men will stick out. Children who grow up watching debates like this will become adults who expect to see diversity on the stage.

Also, after everything we’ve been through, watching Harris’s passion, confidence, and clear mastery of the material was both soothing and much needed. She refilled my joy.

Before I open the thread for discussion, I want to touch on something that struck me as very, very odd. When the moderator asked Trump point blank whether, if Roe was overturned, he would ban abortion in Indiana if that were in his power, he … dodged. Pence has never been particularly secretive about the fact that his goal is to ban abortion. So why suddenly become cagey, when his object seems to be almost within reach?

For god’s sake, when he was governor of Indiana, Pence signed a law requiring women who have miscarriages to bury or cremate the remains. This is the level of absurdity he is willing to go to in his efforts to ban abortion, and yet, when given the question on a national stage, he declined to answer.

Someone noted that if Roe were overturned, the Republican Party would lose one of their most important wedge issues. Look, I grew up in a conservative evangelical household. We definitely felt that we had no choice but to vote Republican because of abortion. This is one reason many voters in 2016 voted for Trump, despite him being an appalling, horrible person: because no matter what objectively terrible things someone might be doing, nothing is worse than murdering hundreds of thousands of babies.

If Roe is overturned and abortion rights are thrown to the states, the stakes might change. I’m not dismissing the problems throwing Roe to the states would cause. We already live in a world where women who struggle with addiction can be charged with murder if they are miscarry, and all of this would only get worse. But it’s nonetheless true that the abortion issue has pinned a specific constituency to the Republican Party.

Was Pence worried about the Republican Party losing a wedge issue? Is he getting cold feet about actually overturning Roe? While I can’t say for sure, I tend to think not. Pence, in my view, is a true ideologue. He actually wants to ban abortion. He isn’t an opportunist merely using abortion as a wedge issue.

So, then, why didn’t he state outright that he wants to ban abortion?

The answer, I think, banning abortion is incredibly unpopular. I suspect that Pence was concerned about answering for that reason. This is no excuse, though. Pence should be honest with the American people about what he’s trying to do. Backtracking at this moment is also disingenuous, because Pence hasn’t exactly been secretive about his intentions here in the past. Hiding that from the American people because it’s unpopular is not okay. Whatever happened to being okay with taking an unpopular position if that is what is right?

Someone playing devil’s advocate (which I hate) might note that Harris refused to answer the question about court packing. I don’t see that as at all the same, both because Harris has not committed to court packing in the past (so it’s not like she’s dodging a former position), and because Harris hasn’t spent the past multiple decades trying to pack the court, as Pence has trying to ban abortion.

Oh boy oh boy, I have so many court packing thoughts. So many thoughts. We’ll save that for another time, though.

So. What debate thoughts do you have?

I have a Patreon! Please support my writing!

Politics

Previous Post

October 7, 2020

"Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg"

Next Post

October 9, 2020 The Vision: All the Trafficked Children

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atheism Evangelicalism/Fundamentalism Family Feminism Homeschool Meta Parenting Patriarchy Politics Purity Quiverfull Social Justice Uncategorized Worthwhile reads

Select a Month February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What city was the capital of Israel before Jerusalem?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Bethel Jericho Hebron Shechem