The majority view is that Pence won but maybe that this won't be much help to Trump.
First, it was only a VP debate, so Pence would have needed to win big to help Trump and no one thinks he did that. On the flip side, Kaine mostly needed to avoid unforced errors which could be used to beat Clinton over the head and he succeeded in staying safe.
Secondly, he won the debate by refusing to admit that Trump had said certain things or had certain policies. That blunted Kaine's attack as you need to get that concession before you ask the opponent to defend that statement or policy. He did a fine job of boasting of his own conservative credentials but Trump is not a conservative of Pence's ilk. Pence didn't do his prospects for a run in 2020 any harm at all.
Thirdly, Kaine was clearly aiming his attack at Trump rather than trying to disqualify Pence, so the Clinton camp is less concerned about who won the debate as a separate entity than how it affected the attitudes of swing voters towards Trump. That's much harder to assess as a discrete issue in opinion polls. Perhaps the only part of the debate which will feature in a negative ad will be when Pence gave up an unforced error in referring to "whipping out that Mexican thing" in a dismissive way which adds insult to injury in the Latino community.
First, it was only a VP debate, so Pence would have needed to win big to help Trump and no one thinks he did that. On the flip side, Kaine mostly needed to avoid unforced errors which could be used to beat Clinton over the head and he succeeded in staying safe.
Secondly, he won the debate by refusing to admit that Trump had said certain things or had certain policies. That blunted Kaine's attack as you need to get that concession before you ask the opponent to defend that statement or policy. He did a fine job of boasting of his own conservative credentials but Trump is not a conservative of Pence's ilk. Pence didn't do his prospects for a run in 2020 any harm at all.
Thirdly, Kaine was clearly aiming his attack at Trump rather than trying to disqualify Pence, so the Clinton camp is less concerned about who won the debate as a separate entity than how it affected the attitudes of swing voters towards Trump. That's much harder to assess as a discrete issue in opinion polls. Perhaps the only part of the debate which will feature in a negative ad will be when Pence gave up an unforced error in referring to "whipping out that Mexican thing" in a dismissive way which adds insult to injury in the Latino community.