Clinton supporters downplay Pence debate win

Hillary Clinton allies and surrogates are acknowledging that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence won the vice presidential debate a day after his televised battle with Democrat Tim Kaine.

But there is no gloom in Clintonville.

{mosads}Clinton supporters say that while Pence delivered a solid performance Tuesday in Farmville, Va., and Kaine hurt himself with frequent interruptions, they don’t think it stalled Clinton’s momentum.

Vice presidential debates typically do little to affect the race, and initial ratings show less than half as many people watched Pence and Kaine as watched their running mates last week.

One adviser predicted the debate would be a “one-day story” before the news cycle marched forward to the second Clinton-Trump debate on Sunday at Washington University in St. Louis.

“There’s such a short window before the next debate, all eyes will be quickly turning toward that,” the supporter said.

The Clinton ally gave credit to Pence, saying he “prevailed” on style.

“Part of it is his mellifluous radio talk show host voice and Reagan-esque demeanor,” the adviser said of the former conservative talk-radio host.

In the short-term, the adviser said it would boost confidence among Republicans who had been worried about Trump’s slide in polls following his first debate with Clinton.

Clinton insiders also don’t think the night was a total disaster by any means.

Kaine, whose attack-dog demeanor on Tuesday conflicted with his usual nice-guy approach, didn’t have his best performance, but “he did what he needed to do,” one longtime friend of the Democratic nominee said. 

The Virginia senator repeatedly brought up Trump’s controversial comments about women, Mexicans and President Obama’s birthplace, seeking to force Pence to defend them.

The idea was to reinforce negative attitudes about Trump among black, Hispanic and female voters whom the Clinton team sees as essential to victory on Election Day.

It’s now up to Clinton to continue to move the needle, they say.

Polls out this week show Clinton with a decent lead on Trump following her strong debate performance, a week of feuding between the Republican and a former Miss Universe, and a story in The New York Times that concluded he could have legally avoided paying federal taxes for up to 18 years.

A Reuters-Ipsos survey, for example, has Clinton ahead by 6 points nationally, while various polls this week have her leading in North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Colorado and even Ohio, where she had been slipping.

“We have all the momentum still,” the longtime friend said. “She just needs to build on momentum that she got coming out of the first debate, and the momentum he gave her following the Miss Universe debacle and his taxes.”

Sunday is a must-win situation for Trump, who has signaled he may come out guns blazing by bringing up Bill and Hillary’s marriage in the context of the former president’s infidelities.

At a rally last weekend, Trump mocked Hillary Clinton’s recent bout with pneumonia. He also said she had not been loyal to her husband.

Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook on Tuesday night downplayed speculation that Trump would attack the Clintons’ marriage, but others close to Clinton are expecting the worst.

“I think he’s going to pop, and it’s going to be a hot, holy mess,” one surrogate predicted. “It’s going to be the Donald Trump we’ve been expecting.”

At the same time, Clinton insiders say the Sunday debate’s town hall format could slow Trump’s attacks. 

“[It] could make it difficult for him to counterpunch strongly, since the format doesn’t lend itself to as much one-on-one battling,” the longtime adviser said.  “The audience is more of an intermediary force, and whoever can best connect with the audience.”

Clinton supporters believe Kaine forced Pence into a corner where he could not defend all of his running mate’s statements.

“Kaine did do better on reminding people of Donald’s issues than Pence did reminding people of Hillary’s,” the longtime adviser said.

And by doing so, he left the door open for Clinton to keep up the attacks on Trump. 

“His job was to continue the narrative on Trump,” the surrogate said. “And in that way, he succeeded.”