Tim Kaine? Mike Pence? Which one won the vice presidential debate on Tuesday, Oct. 4th? Pence, running for vice president with Donald Trump went against Kaine who is also running for vice president with Hillary Clinton. They were asked multiple questions that had to do with world problems. We asked two students who watched the debate to tell us their thoughts on the questions asked and the responses that were given. The two students are freshmen Owen Palmieri and Nolan O’Rourke.

Pence and Kaine were asked about their economic plans and how they won’t reduce America’s 19 trillion dollar debt. Pence says he wants to repeal Obama Care and by lowering taxes on small businesses. Kaine said he wants to invest in manufacturing and in education, promote minimum wage, and have fairness in the pay of female workers.

Responding to Pence’s explanation, Palmieri said, “They sound accurate and are good points proving that we increase in debt if Hillary is president.” O’Rourke said, “I believe that getting rid of Obama Care will fix the debt because Obama Care put us more into debt.”

Responding to Kaine’s explanation on the question Palmieri said, “He did a great job promoting gender equality and I think it helps the sway of women voting who want equal pay.” O’Rourke said, “I don’t believe that investing in education will reduce the 19 trillion dollars in debt.”

Both candidates then discussed their ideas on immigration and deportation. Kaine says that border control will improve, and that citizenship can be earned if immigrants are doing a good job. Pence says that they will remove people who have overstayed their visas and this will better the economy, reform the immigration system, and restore border security by building a wall.

Responding to Kaine’s response Palmieri said, “Hilary and Kaine’s ideas for immigration are innovative and good.” O’Rourke said, “He had a good response and I believe Trumps campaign is actually insult driven.”

Responding to Pence’s explanation Palmieri said, “Trump plans to build a wall and says the Mexicans should pay for it but since it’s Trumps idea he should pay for it and he can’t force people to just get up and leave with expired visas.” O’Rourke said, “His beliefs were weak and he did a bad job at explaining the new immigration system.”

The next common question that was discussed by the vice presidential candidates was whether the terrorist threat has increased or decreased. Both Pence and Kaine said the threat has decreased. Kaine said to prevent terrorism they need to have immigration enforcement. Pence said that they will prevent people coming in from places with terrorism and also create a safer homeland security.

Responding to Pence’s explanation, Palmieri said, “Mike pence’s ideas are a bit racist and you can’t prevent someone coming into the country just because of where they came from.”  O’Rourke said, “He definitely knows how to handle terrorism and how to prevent it.”

With Kaine’s explanation Palmieri said, “His ideas for immigration are better because they are less racist.” O’Rourke said, “I disagree on his stance on immigration enforcement but some of the statements he made about how to deal with immigration were true.”

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