Pence is a frightening guy, and in some ways more so than Trump, in that he does not, at first look, appear to be crazy. But the beliefs he holds are extreme. He is an Indiana, small town, White male, who firmly believes in the class structure of 1947, when women and Black people were firmly subservient.

Tonight was beginning for the Pence 2024 campaign. He hopes to inherit the Trump base. That’s why he’s been so crazy-loyal. He is more cunning than Trump but obviously lacks the charisma, or the ability to provoke tribal rage.

Harris could have been a bit more aggressive, especially about how Pence did not answer 2/3 of the questions. But she had a very thin margin between being labelled assertive or angry, and her choice to be conservative was probably correct.