I have a dislike for both Mike Pence and Kamala Harris. I think they are both quintessential politicians without much in the way of backbones. Harris' nasal speaking tone and laugh are like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. Pence gives every indication of being a soulless yes man.
Harris has a bad record as both prosecutor and district attorney. It is a sign of how desperate the Democrats are to beat Trump that while significant elements of the Democratic political and racial base are expressing disdain for "law and order" as it is currently unfairly applied to Black men and boys, the 2020 Democratic nominee for Vice-President and likely next Vice-President is an empty suit who joked about locking people up for marijuana violations, refused to prosecute dangerous cops, referred to herself as California's "top-cop", and fought to keep prisoners locked up so that they could serve as cheap labor to fight California fires. As others have pointed out Harris was no progressive prosecutor.
But I digress.
But Pence is a good debater and counterpuncher, two things Harris is not. Pence furrowed his brow, cocked his head in a "concerned" manner and proceeded to lie with great sincerity about how great things were and how bad they would be under a Biden administration. Pence went on to raise fear about Harris' and Biden's adoption of the Green New Deal, Harris' and Biden's plans for the Supreme Court, and Harris' prosecutorial record. On the last Pence couldn't and didn't say too much because he is of course a man of the right and isn't all that bothered by prosecutorial abuses. It wasn't Tulsi Gabbard 2.0. In my opinion neither party gives a damn about Black men. One has a policy of benign neglect while the other prefers open hostility.
All in all they each laid hands on each other but if I HAD to pick one I'd say Pence won just barely on points. But actually Pence lost. Pence was defending such malevolence and incompetence that unlike in past VP debates I'd say he needed to move the needle drastically. Pence needed to bring over undecided voters or convert marginal Democratic voters who didn't like Harris. And I see no way in hell that Pence did that.
Advantage Harris.