Why Experts Predict The Vice Presidential Debate Will Be More Civil

Interruptions and shouting plagued the first presidential debate, but experts predict that the vice presidential debate will be much more civilized.

Wednesday's vice presidential debate, which will be held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, figures to be one of the most important political events in recent history. Normally vice presidential debates don't garner much attention, but with President Trump's health in question after a recent COVID-19 diagnosis, and with Joe Biden’s age (77) a frequent topic, the debates leading up to the Nov. 3 election are developing into must-see TV for voters.

The incumbent, Mike Pence, and Senator Kamala Harris, D-Calif., will take part in the vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City, Utah. Pence and Harris are eager to perform well but also don’t want to jeopardize the debate's civil structure by engaging in shouting matches.

Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, argued that he would be surprised if the vice presidential debate resembled anything similar to Trump and Biden’s first presidential debate.

“I don't anticipate the kind of badgering interruptions that happened in the presidential debates," Miringoff said. "Typically the role of the vice presidential candidates is to restate the rationale for the ticket. They can plug up any holes and accentuate positives.”

Miringoff added, “The moderator, Susan Page, is excellent. Not that anybody could have reigned in the presidential debate, but I don’t anticipate that these two are gonna get in anything resembling the kind of shouting match that existed in the presidential debate.”

Aaron Kall, the director of debate at the University of Michigan, agrees with Miringoff’s assessment and doesn’t expect to see Harris or Pence get into a shouting fit.

“When people are talking over each other for 90 minutes you can't hear the arguments that you need ..." Kall said. "Everyone realizes that was negatively perceived. Pence and Harris will do everything in their power to be diametrically opposed from the kind of debate we saw in Cleveland.”

Kall added: “In general, I don’t think even before the first debate it was likely to be as contentious, just because they have different personalities and styles. They don't have the personal animus for each other. They are likely both going to be candidates in the future, so it was probably going to be pretty civil in general. But now I think that they will do everything possible to make sure that there’s no repeat of Cleveland.”

Pence is a socially conservative Christian from the Midwest. Harris, meanwhile, is a progressive, mixed-race Californian whose past as a criminal prosecutor and hard questioner of Trump allies in congressional hearings make her a challenging debater.

Both Harris and Pence have a firm, yet calm debate style. Miringoff feels the candidates' personalities are part of the reason why he expects a civil discussion.

“In terms of being both pleasant and having a sharp dagger, Harris has both of those gears," he said. "She'll be very prosecutorial to score the points she wants to make. She will also have a certain calmness to her.”

With Harris being a fierce debater, Miringoff suspects that Pence may be on the defense Wednesday night.

“Pence is fairly straight-laced," the political expert said. "He doesn't exude charisma. He will show his loyalty to the president. ... He may find himself having to counterpunch a little, because Harris is good at prosecuting and he may be a little on the defensive.”

Even with Harris most likely on the attack, Miringoff doesn't expect many blunders from either candidate.

“I don't anticipate large mistakes from either of them," he said. "I think they're both seasoned in the national spotlight."

In the first presidential debate, Trump and Biden clashed on seemingly every topic. Trump often interrupted the former vice president, which prompted the Commission on Presidential Debates to consider muting candidates' microphones.

Additionally, the commission eventually authorized the use of plexiglass barriers for Wednesday's debate, following the White House's recent COVID-19 outbreak.

Wednesday's vice presidential debate will start at 9 p.m. Eastern time and will last 90 minutes, with no commercial breaks.