Welcome to Medium's election digest. As Election Day nears, we're inviting a mix of guest voices to share posts that offer fresh commentary and unique insights into what's unfolding on the campaign trail and across the country. With that, we introduce New York-based writer, Luke Thompson.

"It was a strange debate. Kaine marched in lockstep with his candidate while Pence stretched his legs and showed he can be everything Trump isn't — namely, well-prepared."
—Matthew Gault, Pence Breaks With Trump and Gets Tough On Putin

There are two types of vice presidential candidates: bag men and hatchet men. Bag men carry water while hatchet men do the dirty work the candidate can't. Most observers see in Tim Kaine the quintessential bag man: well liked, loyal, trusted on The Hill. Last night he tried to wield an ax, and it didn't go well.

Mike Pence came aboard the Trump Train to act as a conservative hatchet man, an unassailable counterbalance to a candidate notorious for assailing. And last night, chuckling and chiding Kaine's exuberance, Pence tried to be the un-Trump, an avuncular yin to Trump's brazen yang. But his low-key rope-a-dope strategy failed to move the discussion beyond Trump's increasingly radioactive persona. This round to Pence, then, but to what end?

Mood: Walking out of a theater having already forgotten the movie.

—Luke Thompson, guest writer

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