MICHAEL BESCHLOSS: What I was astounded by was the number of times that Mike Pence declined the opportunity to defend Donald Trump against Tim Kaine's attacks.



You know, Kaine would talk about the attacks on Mexican-Americans and women and so on, and Pence would just sort of -- you know, was almost suggesting that Kaine had done something gross by even mentioning such a thing, and sort of -- Pence sort of flicked it away almost as if they were discussing the antics of an errant child.



Now, why is it that other vice presidential candidates in history have defended their presidential candidate so zealously? Well, number one, that's their job in these debates, but number two, they do it because if their ticket gets elected and this guy becomes vice president, he is going to have to depend on the president to decide whether he has a lot to do, or whether, you know, he is essentially distanced from the Oval Office.



And the astounding thing to me tonight was that, you know, Pence declined so many chances to defend Trump, suggested to me that you know, maybe he is not too optimistic about the possibility of being vice president, and therefore he thought it was OK to do that.

Previously:



MSNBC's Richard Engel: What Pence Said About Russia During VP Debate “Was Radically Different” From Trump's Position



ABC's Dowd: Mike Pence “Never Really Fundamentally Defended Donald Trump” During VP Debate



Journalists Are Calling Out Mike Pence For Lying About Things Donald Trump Has Said