Who won the vice-presidential debate?

   Proponents of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, thought he won Tuesday's debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. Backers of Republican Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, in the running to be presidential candidate Donald J. Trump's vice president, argued that he was the victor.
   But putting aside partisan politics, who actually won? Debates can be judged by different aspects of style, argument and rebuttal. Were the debaters organized and knowledgeable? Did they argue in a persuasive manner? How was their presentation? 
    Here are four clips of the Oct. 4 debate via the Public Broadcasting Service's YouTube channel. Watch the clips and use the SurveyMonkey links in each section to score the candidates on a scale of 1 (poor performance) to 4 (excellent performance).  

1. Presentation: Think about the two candidates in stylistic terms. Were they clear and convincing? Were there too many interruptions? Were you satisfied that they were telling the truth? As one example, watch this clip on the Syrian crisis and follow this SurveyMonkey link to score the candidates on presentation.

  

2. Organization: Each candidate should make his argument in a cogent manner. When answering a question, he should make a statement that is supported with a logical argument. In this clip, the candidates argue about the foundations of Trump and the Clinton family. Watch and follow this link to score the candidates. 

 3. Argument: The root of the word "argue" means "to make clear," according to Webster's Dictionary. So how clear were the debaters? Did each candidate make a persuasive argument? Watch the clip below on growing the economy and follow this link to score the candidates on SurveyMonkey.

 4. Rebuttal: One of the skills of a strong debater is the ability to find the weakness in an opponent's argument and exploit it in rebuttal. On the other hand, the opposing debater should be ready to defend his ideas. In this exchange, Pence and Kaine discuss immigration policy. After watching, follow this link to score the candidates.  

 

    Related:

    Research: Divided political parties lose

    Clinton, Trump struggle to woo millennial voters 

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