The stage set the scene.

Though only one figure was a conservative, both sparring partners played it conservatively Wednesday night, right down to the plexiglass dividers. The tango between Vice President Mike Pence and California Senator Kamala Harris was, as expected, a different clash than the spectacle put on by the aspirant presidents a week prior. 

Debate moderator Susan Page of USA Today focused heavily on the Coronavirus. “Knowing that we have to get ahold of what has been going on— and we need to save our country,” Harris remarked. “And Joe Biden is the best leader to do that, and frankly this administration has forfeited their right to re-election, based on this.” 

Pence, on the other hand, advanced a talking point that has gained circulation especially as New York Times’ opinion writer Ross Douthat laid it out last month: the contention that a Biden administration would have handled the COVID-19 crisis all that more deftly is likely a canard. 

“Like what Trump and I and our task force have been doing every step of the way,” Pence replied. “I mean, quite frankly, when I look at their plan that talks about advancing testing, creating new PPE [Personal Protective Equipment], developing a vaccine, it looks a little bit like plagiarism.” The blow was targeted at Biden, whose own travails with filching material derailed his first presidential campaign. “Which is something Joe Biden knows a little bit about,” Pence said, to a clearly miffed Harris.

Still, the best barometer that the gathering was more staid and less controversial than Trump vs. Biden, round one, was probably the market reaction. Stock futures rose Thursday morning, and President Trump revived hope that a stimulus package could be passed before Election Day, telling Maria Bartiromo that his administration was having “productive talks” with the Speaker’s office and Nancy Pelosi. 

Trump, of course, remains essentially not on speaking terms with the woman second in line to the presidency. All eyes are, instead, on Treasury Secretary Mnuchin who has maintained the greatest personal rapport with the San Francisco congresswoman. While prospects for a deal remain bleak Thursday morning — as harrowing as the polling for the president in this campaign — the impact of the Pence-Harris debate is probably to, at least, stop the bleeding for Team Trump. 

Trump’s aggressive show of force last week against Biden in Ohio was not for everyone. Cowen analyst Chris Krueger wrote that he disagreed with the “notion that debate was a dumpster fire: by definition, dumpster fires are contained.” Cowen’s memo was called “Crazy Train.” And the barrage of positive COVID-19 tests for senior administration officials, including Trump and his wife, has been nothing short of humiliating for a White House accused of addressing Coronavirus with flippancy. 

The Democrats have tried to maintain message discipline on healthcare, and Harris was no exception. 

“If you have a pre-existing condition: heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer, they’re coming for you.” The administration has a pending lawsuit before the Supreme Court to strike down the entirety of the Affordable Care Act. But Trump has maintained in that eventuality he would replace Obamacare with something “better” and Pence said Harris’ contention was “nonsense.”

When asked about the more fearful anxieties surrounding Trump’s administration and a possible transition of power, Pence ducked and cried foul on the other side. And “first and foremost, I think we are going to win this election,” the vice president said. 

And Pence has long been noted as more establishmentarian than Trump. The list of achievements he touted Wednesday night in Salt Lake City blended Trumpist endeavors and language, such as trade nationalism and law and order, with goals more consistent with Reaganism. 

“President Donald Trump has launched a movement of everyday Americans from every walk of life,” said Pence. “I have every confidence that the same Americans who delivered that historic victory in 2016 — they see this president’s record, where we’ve rebuilt our military, we’ve revived our economy through tax cuts and rolling back regulation, fighting for fair trade, unleashing American energy, we appointed conservatives to our federal courts. And we stood with the men and women of law enforcement every single day.”

Following the debate, the president signaled that he believed his deputy had won.