Tonight Hillary had the right person in her corner as Democratic Vice Presidential candidate, Tim Kaine, came out swinging against Donald Trump's running mate, Mike Pence. Kaine recounted Trump's derogatory comments about Mexicans, women, the federal judge handling a lawsuit against Trump University, John McCain's war record, African-Americans' living conditions, and President Obama's birthright citizenship.

Pence's response was to LIE, DENY AND DODGE while affecting the superior smiling air of a 1950's male chauvinist salesman who is trying to sell you a really bad real estate deal. He also thanked the wrong university for being the debate host.

Former Representative John Dingell summed it up in a tweet: "Pence did a great job. Of not answering a single question asked of him and lying about offensive things his goofy, terrible running mate had said."

Six times Kaine asked Mike Pence to defend the insults Trump has hurled against women and immigrants, war heroes and the President, and six times, Pence refused to defend him and just tried to look hurt. As one person tweeted, "Governor Pence has mastered the false art of injured pride."

Kaine said he was proud to be running with a history-making woman. He said he and his wife and his Marine son trust Hillary as Commander-in Chief, but the thought of Trump in that role "scares us to death."

On jobs and the economy, Kaine said that independent analysts said Hillary would create over 10 million new jobs and Trump's plans would destroy 3 million jobs. Pence also had no response to the charge that Trump would eliminate the Federal minimum wage.

Discussing abortion, Kaine made the case for women making their own reproductive choices. Pence and Trump want to repeal Roe v Wade. "I think you should live your moral values, but the last thing governments should do is to have laws that would punish women who make reproductive choices," Kaine said.

"We support Roe v. Wade. We support the constitutional right of American women to consult their own conscience and make their own decision about pregnancy," the Senator from Virginia added. "That is something we trust American women to do. And we don't think that women should be punished, for making the decision to have an abortion."Kaine reminded us that Trump said we should "punish women" who make these reproductive choices.

American women for generations may not forget the words, "we trust American women."

Tim Kaine later tore into Trump's record on illegal immigration, saying that Pence was trying to "fuzz up" the candidate's hardline position on the issue.

"He said about your judge, a Hoosier judge — he said Judge Curiel was unqualified to hear a case because his parents were Mexicans," Kaine said, referencing Trump's attacks over the summer on a federal judge born in Indiana. "I can't imagine how you would defend that." At once point Pence hurt himself further by not embracing the importance of Trump's insults or the issue of immigrants with a dismissive complaint that Kaine was raising "the Mexican thing again."

In a telling line summing up Trump's last week, said Kaine said, "Donald Trump can't start a Twitter war with Miss Universe without shooting himself in the foot."

Pence mostly refused to answer any questions. For example, Pence initially didn't answer a question on whether it was fair for Trump to pay no taxes for years but was pressed by moderator Elaine Quijano to answer.

"Governor, with all due respect, the question was whether it seems fair to you that Mr. Trump said he brilliantly used the laws to pay as little tax as legally possible," Quijano said.

"His tax returns showed that he went through a very difficult time, but he used the Tax Code just the way it's supposed to be used. And he did it brilliantly," Pence said in response.

Let's see how brilliantly not paying taxes goes down with hard-working Americans who do pay taxes to support our police and military and teachers.

Asked about combatting terrorism, Kaine said "there is only one candidate who can combat terrorism and that's Hillary Clinton." On foreign policy, Kaine pointed out Trump's many outrageous proposals, that he has a secret plan on ISIS.... trash talks the military... wants to break up our alliances....believes that the world will be safer with more nuclear weapons...believes that Putin is a stronger leader than Obama. Pence baldly lied that Trump never said these things.

For the record, here's what Pence said in early September: "I think it's inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in his country."

Kaine did to Pence tonight what John Edwards failed to do to Dick Cheney in 2004.

He held him accountable for running with a candidate who is racist, anti women and likely to wreck our country.

Well done, Tim Kaine!

####

October, 4, 2016