eddie sykes hoped republican mike pence and democrat tim kaine might help him decide how to vote for president in november. but mr. sykes, a retired federal corrections officer in woodbridge, va., who has crossed party lines several times over the years, said tuesday night<u+2019>s vice-presidential debate in farmville, va., was no more clarifying than last week<u+2019>s presidential debate . <u+201c>it<u+2019>s back to name-calling,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m disappointed. i<u+2019>m disgusted, really.<u+201d> other undecided voters said they were left unimpressed by mr. pence, indiana<u+2019>s 57-year-old governor and donald trump <u+2019>s running mate, and mr. kaine, a 58-year-old senator from virginia who is running with hillary clinton. teresa augustine, a former bernie sanders supporter and a college senior at indiana university northwest majoring in sociology, attended a sparsely attended viewing of the debate at her campus in gary. she said she doesn<u+2019>t like either candidate and was trying to decide whether to support mrs. clinton or simply not to vote. halfway through the debate, she had heard some things that she liked but hadn<u+2019>t made up her mind. <u+201c>i was happy that they mentioned clean energy,<u+201d> but also noted how many times mr. pence mentioned the war on coal. <u+201c>they say things, but it doesn<u+2019>t mean there<u+2019>s going to be change.<u+201d> debbie ritenour, a 58-year-old retired teacher from woodbridge, va., typically votes republican but said she doesn<u+2019>t know whether she will vote for mr. trump or mrs. clinton. neither has <u+201c>verbalized what they will do for this country, both domestic and international,<u+201d> she said. she said tuesday<u+2019>s debate at longwood university didn<u+2019>t help her decide, even though she thought it was more substantive than last week<u+2019>s presidential debate. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s a hard call,<u+201d> she said. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m anxious to hear the other two presidential debates.<u+201d> alba cheverez, a 49-year-old sales administrator from fairfax, va., who leans democratic, said she recently decided to vote for mrs. clinton after going back and forth between her and mr. trump over the summer. a self-described social liberal and fiscal conservative, ms. cheverez said she heard nothing during tuesday<u+2019>s debate to change her position. she said she didn<u+2019>t think mr. pence gave satisfactory answers to questions about mr. trump<u+2019>s views on privatizing social security or recent revelations about the gop nominee<u+2019>s 1995 tax return. but she also criticized mr. kaine<u+2019>s frequent interruptions. <u+201c>he<u+2019>s coming on a little too strong and not giving pence an opportunity to answer questions i want answers to,<u+201d> she said midway through the debate. melissa beaudoin, a gop neighborhood team leader in fairfax, va., watched the debate with 50 other trump/pence supporters at the french quarter brasserie. she said mr. pence seemed centered, while mr. kaine seemed prone to attack ms. beaudoin said her husband was a small business owner, with several rental properties, and she was more comfortable with mr. trump<u+2019>s use of the u.s. tax code than mrs. clinton<u+2019>s use of a private email server as secretary of state. <u+201c>when you have temporary losses, you can take several years to write them off,<u+201d> she said. <u+201c>he followed the law, plain or simple.<u+201d> <u+201c>it might not be pleasant, but he acted within what was in the law. she acted outside the law.<u+201d> rida khan, a 19-year-old virginia commonwealth university student, watched the debate at the baja bean co. restaurant in richmond, va., where aarp sponsored a viewing party to engage young adults on social security. a strong clinton supporter, ms. khan praised mr. kaine<u+2019>s comments on race relations. <u+201c>that<u+2019>s important to me as a woman of color and a young person,<u+201d> she said. she said she also felt mr. pence struggled when repeatedly asked by mr. kaine if he defended his running mate<u+2019>s more controversial statements. both candidates already are helping in their respective states. hillary clinton<u+2019>s selection of mr. kaine <u+201c>absolutely<u+201d> has been a key factor in her solid lead in his native virginia said larry sabato, director of the university of virginia<u+2019>s center for politics. and while mr. trump was already well-positioned to carry indiana, mr. pence<u+2019>s presence on the gop ticket should widen mr. trump<u+2019>s margin of victory by several percentage points, mr. sabato said. mr. kaine, 58 years old, has a penchant for harmonica playing on the campaign trail. mr. pence, 57, was a radio and television host in indiana before being elected to congress in 2000. he has joked that his motorcycling buddies say he<u+2019>s <u+201c>born to be mild.<u+201d> mr. pence, who was elected governor in 2012, said he swore off negative campaigning in 1991 after losing a brutal race for congress. one of his challenges now is defending the tone of mr. trump<u+2019>s often negative campaign. both candidates have substantial differences with their running mates on policy. among other things, mr. pence disagreed with mr. trump<u+2019>s call last december to temporarily ban muslims from immigrating to the u.s. write to valerie bauerlein at valerie.bauerlein@wsj.com , will connors at william.connors@wsj.com and scott calvert at scott.calvert@wsj.com
vice-presidential debate fails to sway undecided voters - wsj
valerie bauerlein will connors scott calvert