http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/04/opinion/gov-pence-and-senator-kaine-face-off-in-farmville.html 2016-10-04 09:52:38 Gov. Pence and Senator Kaine: Face-Off in Farmville! O.K., it won’t rival the Trump-Clinton rumble for excitement, but the vice-presidential debate could be an important comparison of policy visions. === It’s safe to say Tuesday’s Such an exchange would be particularly illuminating on the Republican side. Even to many in his own party, Mr. Pence, a former congressman and the sitting Indiana governor, struck a Faustian bargain by joining the Trump ticket. But he has tried to articulate a different set of principles, in contrast to dead-enders like Rudolph Giuliani, Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie. If Mr. Trump loses, Mr. Pence will likely be part of a rump of Republican leaders left to pick up the pieces and focus the party in a more positive direction. Left largely on his own while the Trump inner circle fights fires (and each other), Mr. Pence has been trying to reassure conservatives and evangelicals that he’ll represent them. A social conservative, his anti-abortion, anti-gay stances are deeply at odds with many Americans’ views. At the same time, he has rejected Mr. Trump’s attacks on the family of an American Muslim soldier killed in Iraq, and distanced himself from Mr. Trump’s “birther” campaign. Though he says he’s against Obamacare, as governor he backed the Medicaid expansion that was central to it. He has waffled on the legal fate of 11 million undocumented immigrants, but he has not come out in favor of deporting them. He can legitimately claim firsthand experience and some successes confronting the hollowing-out of the American manufacturing economy. Mr. Pence may in fact be in a better position than Mr. Trump to reinforce the ticket’s appeal to working-class voters, given Mr. Trump’s recent preoccupation with personal attacks and bizarre tweets. Mr. Kaine, the junior senator from Virginia and its former governor, will field the first question of the debate from Elaine Quijano of CBS News, the moderator. At some point he’ll surely attack Mr. Trump’s income tax filings. But it might be more interesting, given his fluent Spanish and service as a missionary in Honduras, to hear a clearer articulation of the Clinton campaign’s vague promise of “comprehensive immigration reform.” What would that legislation contain, and how could it succeed? Mr. Kaine could also spell out more fully why Mrs. Clinton reversed her position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. The campaign says it had to do with specific weaknesses in the agreement, but her turnabout still mystifies many voters. The debate is set in Mr. Kaine’s home state, Virginia, known for weak laws on influence peddling. What are Mr. Kaine’s ideas for fulfilling a pledge to carry out tougher campaign finance laws? This is the only time the vice-presidential nominees will debate before the election. Compared with the flaming barbecue that was last week’s presidential debate, this one seems like boiled cauliflower. But a helping of policy substance might be good for everybody.