The vice presidential debate is not attractive. Only one is held per election and it features two figures with smaller names and significantly smaller roles than their running mates. Making the debate appealing is difficult, but Tuesday’s provided the best opportunity for voters to see the campaigns’ characterizations of their policies — with some zest, of course.
The surprising result of the debate was one of the best explanations of campaign policies voters have seen. Tuesday’s debate included tax policy, police reform, immigration, and national security.
The juxtaposition of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is stark, but the truth is that their personal qualifications for vice president don’t make much of a difference in the long run. Within the debate, personal policies — abortion and religion, for example — didn’t make their way to the stage, significant because both are issues that have defined the candidates’ careers. Regardless, the expectation of a dull evening faded as soon as Elaine Quijano opened the floor to contestations.
The role of the two candidates is simple: add to the party resume and praise their running mate. Pence brings political experience to a campaign bent on marketing its outsider frontrunner, and Kaine brings a moderate and cooperative tone to a Clinton campaign that found itself falling further left after the Bernie Sanders phenomenon.
While the candidates identified some controversial issues, what many viewers thought would be a calm debate quickly became aggressive. Kaine retorted with venom each moment Pence had to speak, and, after enough coaxing, Pence began to retaliate. Donald Trump, who interrupted Hillary Clinton more than 50 times in their match, was overshadowed by Kaine in this debate, who interrupted Pence over 70 times. Pence, however, kept a poised expression for most of the debate, a contrast to his running mate’s style.
Kaine’s strategy, it seemed, was to regurgitate Trump’s own words. In one particular retaliation, he formulated a popular criticism of Trump:
“I just want to talk about the tone set from the top. Donald Trump during this campaign has called Mexicans rapists and criminals.”
Pence responded by calling the Clinton campaign “insult driven,” a label that would follow Kaine throughout the night. While Kaine hoped to force Pence to defend Donald Trump’s words, but each time the Indiana governor let the accusations roll off of his shaking head, or deflected the claims by focusing on the Obama administration and Clinton’s failures. He didn’t defend Trump, which turned out to be his best strategy and ultimately his greatest success.  
What’s left from the debate is a splintered Trump campaign and a somewhat deflated Clinton morale. Pence’s strong showing, which is rumored to have even caught ridicule from his own running mate, gave hope to Trump supporters seeking more political experience and definition on Trump’s policies. Pence himself seemed to show a more confident politician, an experience that has distinguished Trump but cost him voters and established traditional republicans in the campaign thus far.
As the media tallies decisions, it is increasingly obvious that Pence was the winner of the debate. Polished, calm and acutely in control of temperament and message, his performance alone puts the Trump campaign back on track — at least with its image. Most of the things Pence contested from Kaine were fact-checked to be true, and there lies the crutch in the Trump campaign: Trump’s own words.
Pence’s performance gives Americans normality. Now, the only thing left fighting Trump after the debate is the incorrect deflections by Pence, but as Sarah Kohn, a political activist and speaker, told CNN about the debate, “Donald Trump has already bent the electoral process, the media and the boundaries of basic civility to his whims. He may now bend the concept of fact as well. Certainly, his loyal running mate is trying.”
In a year filled with the unexpected, the role of the vice president has become something unexpected as well: a necessary sidekick that brings a valued depth to the election and, inevitably, the presidency. Right now Pence is the glue holding together the Trump campaign, and this debate — typically looked over and forgotten — is a major change in momentum for the Trump campaign. It could very well be that the vice presidential debate pulled voters back into this race.