The standout debate between Republican nominee Donald Trump & Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton just two weeks ago on the 1st presidential debate caused quite a stir for the 81 million viewers watching across various TV news networks and channels. On October 4th, however, the American people also had the chance to hear the different perspectives of their running mates, Trump’s Governor Mike Pence from Indiana and Clinton’s Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia, as they tuned into the 1st and only Vice Presidential Debate of 2016, which was watched by only half of the million Americans who watched Trump-Clinton debate. The debate pondered the issues surrounding the United States and how both would individually serve their nation if they are elected to the White House come November’s election, defend their running mate and their views on certain policies their partner had. The 90 minute debate was led by CBS News moderator Elaine Quijano focused on several topics.

Throughout the debate, both candidates often demoralized and denounced the other’s running mates and defended their associated running mate, distracting from the topics discussed, but nevertheless, both had have stances on those topics.

Pence and Kaine agree that they are much qualified for the job as Vice-President, having experience  that proves them to be worthy of the job. Both agree that the connection between the community and the police are crucial for cities across the nation in the wake of tense relationships between police and protesters such as the Charlotte riots. When Quijano asked how the spiritual/religious faith has played in their personal and work lives, Pence and Kaine had a shared notion about their faith, both citing it as an important factor in their lives,.

While the perspective on the need to strengthen the ties between a city’s community and police force is shared between both candidates, both also have different approaches to the issue. Kaine started off saying that he will support mental health programs that help officers with decision making thorough trained professionals and thought it best to have background checks for gun ownership so people can be safe. Pence promises that he and Trump will be fully committed to restoring law & order, and also adds that the implicit bias put upon police officers involved with recent African American crimes should be stopped.

The two disagree on the issue of abortion, a topic that stemmed from Pence’s faith, the Republican governor stated that the idea “that a child that is almost born into the world could still have their life taken is just anathema to me,” as noted from the Washington Post’s debate transcript.  Kaine responded with a stance on being pro-choice, that “it is not the role of the public servant to mandate that for everyone else.”

When it comes to the issue of North Korea and how to handle the nuclear-ambition nation, Governor Pence suggests that the United States needs “to make a commitment to rebuilding the U.S. military and nuclear forces in the Korean Peninsula and establishing American diplomatic ties with the Asian nations of the Pacific Rim to put pressure on the North Koreans.” Senator Kaine thinks that establishing relations with China, who is a close ally with North Korea, is key; China has veto power in the United Nations Security Council and are also, according to Kaine, “starting to get worried about North Korea, too.”

Immigration was also discussed and both had ideas concerning how to resolve the issue of letting in immigrants, especially those who have committed crimes. Pence declared that he and Donald Trump has a plan that “will deal systemically with illegal immigration, beginning with border security, internal enforcement,” and that they plan to remove criminal aliens which will secure the nation. For Kaine, he proposed increasing enforcement efforts along with border control which is similar to Pence’s plan, but Kaine stands by Hillary Clinton’s proposal on “comprehensive immigration reform,” which will also keep immigrated families together and help immigrants become citizens of the U.S.

And when it comes to the issue of terrorism, Kaine thinks that the threat of terrorism has decreased in some ways following the death of Osama Bin Laden and the halt of the Iranian nuclear weapons program. He sides with his running mate’s plan to defeat the current worldwide terrorist threat, ISIL, which involves “keeping their leaders on the battlefield” and interrupting their financial assets and ability to access the Internet to inspire followers. Pence thinks otherwise, saying that America is less safe today and that its place in the world is weakened through the lack of leadership under the Obama administration. The return to Iraq shows that weakness, he argues, but with Donald Trump, Pence says they will suspend the Syrian refugee program and other programs of immigration that could have been compromised by terrorists. “Let’s make sure we’re putting the safety and security of the American people first,” were some of his words concerning the issue taken out from a transcript of the debate published by the Washington Post.

And the debate concluded with each candidate proposing how they would unify the country and regarding one another with respect and dignity despite a very aggressive and intense discussion.