Pence, Kaine prepare to debate

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Mike Pence and Tim Kaine will meet next Tuesday in the only official debate between the two Presidential running mates.

If you believe what they’re saying it will be a low key affair.

Tim Kaine will have a home field advantage. He’s a Senator from Virginia and the debate will be held at a Virginia college, Longwood University.

But in campaign appearances, Kaine has done what Mike Pence is doing on the other side.

He talks more about his running mate than about himself.

He sat down with a reporter from our Virginia sister station, WAVY, to talk about the debate and said that his approach will be consistent.

“It is a debate fundamentally about whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump should be President so I need to make this case of Hillary’s lifetime of service to others,” he said, “and contrast it with Donald Trump’s lifetime of putting himself above others.”

At a rally in Pennsylvania Thursday, Pence glossed over the subject.

“I love what Donald said the other night in his debate and I’ve been preparing a little bit for my own next week,” he said.

Pence has been preparing with the help of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who has played the role of Tim Kaine in mock debates.

And while both Pence and Kaine are downplaying the event at this point, don’t be surprised if it’s just an effort to lower expectations. You can be sure that they will mix things up pretty well even if it is about the Presidential candidates and not about them.