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In a week beset by unthinkable political drama, the vice-presidential debate offered a wormhole back to 2012—to a different moment in American politics. Specifically, one wherein Donald Trump did not sit center stage.
The debate was an “oddly normal” capstone for what was “perhaps the most chaotic week of a chaotic presidency,” my colleague Russell Berman writes.
As this week winds down, here are a few things that our writers who cover politics are thinking about:
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Last night, Kamala Harris succeeded where Mike Pence failed. James Fallows, who’s covered many a debate for The Atlantic, writes: “What has historically mattered, when vice-presidential candidates present themselves, is temperament.”
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About that fly … “It symbolized the whole Pence vice presidency,” David Frum argues. For the past four years, Pence has been “the man who pretended not to notice.”
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Meanwhile, the White House remains a Trump bubble. This week Trump’s “staff again seemed to cater first to the president’s emotional needs, rather than the country’s interests or even his own health,” Peter Nicholas reports.
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Go ahead, laugh at the expense of the president, Caitlin Flanagan argues. The mad king and his courtiers learned a lot this week about COVID-19.
One question, answered: What can I do to help ensure that this year’s election runs smoothly?
