memeorandum: The Mike Pence vs. Tim Kaine vice-presidential debate transcript, annotated (Aaron Blake/Washington Post)

1:15 PM ET, October 5, 2016

Top Items:

Michael Levenson / BostonGlobe.com:

Bill Weld says he will focus his fire on Donald Trump — The Libertarian vice presidential candidate, William F. Weld, said Tuesday that he plans to focus exclusively on blasting Donald Trump over the next five weeks, a strategic pivot aimed at denying Trump the White House and giving himself a key role in helping to rebuild the GOP.

Discussion: Salon, Hot Air, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Fairleigh Dickinson University:

VP Picks Favored More than Trump and Clinton in Fairleigh Dickinson University National Poll; — Results Put Clinton Over Trump by Double Digits — In the race for the White House, the most recent national survey of likely voters from Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind finds …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Politicus USA and Political Wire

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

The Mike Pence vs. Tim Kaine vice-presidential debate transcript, annotated — Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence met face-to-face for the first time Tuesday night, as the running mates took part in the only vice-presidential debate of the 2016 election.

Margaret Hartmann / New York Magazine:

Libertarian VP Candidate Bill Weld Gives Up, Will Focus on Preventing Trump Presidency — As some presumably small portion of Americans sat through a dull debate between the Republican and Democratic vice presidential nominees on Tuesday night, a far more interesting drama was unfolding within the Libertarian ticket.

Discussion: Towleroad and The Week

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:

RNC: Kaine interrupted over 70 times — The Republican National Committee claimed Tim Kaine — and the moderator over 70 times during Tuesday's vice presidential debate. — Shortly after the debate ended, the RNC made a quick note of Kaine's aggressive style in an email to reporters.

Discussion: ABC News, Business Insider, Politico, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Scared Monkeys and AOL

Frank Bruni / New York Times:

Mike Pence's Galling Amnesia — Back when Mike Pence hosted a talk radio show in the 1990s, he described himself as “Rush Limbaugh on decaf.” — For much of Tuesday night, he was like Forrest Gump on chamomile, squarely and steadily plodding forward, seldom tugged from his talking points and never particularly rattled.

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Henry C. Jackson / Politico:

6 things Trump definitely said that Pence claimed he didn't — Tim Kaine came into the vice presidential debate with a clear goal: make Mike Pence own all of Trump's most controversial moments. — But Kaine was unable, with Pence successfully parrying his attacks as the debate dissolved …

Discussion: CNN, The Atlantic, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Slate, Mother Jones, Media Matters for America, Guardian, AOL and Washington Post

Louis Nelson / Politico:

Trump's campaign manager denies he's irked at being upstaged by Pence — Donald Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said her boss was “excited” and “proud” after Mike Pence's debate performance Tuesday night, pushing back against reports that the Manhattan billionaire felt upstaged by his running mate's superior showing.

Discussion: ABC News, Hot Air and Vox

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:

The internet loses it after Pence accuses Kaine of ‘whipping out that Mexican thing again’ — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — In a vice presidential debate that was long on interruptions and short on point scoring, it took until the last minute before a candidate said something …

Discussion: CNN, TheBlaze.com, Mediaite, Breitbart and Balloon Juice

Steven Shepard / Politico:
Insiders: Pence outclassed Trump

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, Vox, Pirate's Cove, ThinkProgress, The Week, ABC News, Hot Air, MichelleMalkin.com and 24Ahead

David Frum / The Atlantic: Mike Pence Pretends That Trump Never Happened

David Weigel / Washington Post:
Aftermath of Kaine-Pence debate pits reality against alternate reality

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Politico, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit and Independent Journal Review

CNN:
Pence edges Kaine in VP debate instant poll

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Independent Journal Review, Washington Examiner, Infowars, The Times of Israel and Media Matters for America

Ali Breland / The Hill:
CNN poll: Pence won debate

Discussion: Politico, Scared Monkeys and ABC News

Jeff Stein / Vox:
Mike Pence says Clinton-Kaine is an “insult-driven” campaign as Trump tweets insults

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Fox News, Salon, New York Times, Hullabaloo, USA Today, Daily Kos, CNNMoney and Balloon Juice

Ezra Klein / Vox:
Reports suggest Donald Trump is unhappy with Mike Pence for winning the VP debate

Discussion: alan.com, Salon, Washington Post, RedState, Talking Points Memo, AOL, Business Insider and The Week

Jill Serjeant / Reuters:
TV audience for vice presidential debate about half that of Trump-Clinton

Discussion: Fox News Insider

Cathleen Decker / Los Angeles Times:
Analysis The vice presidential candidates bicker for 90 minutes, to little effect on presidential race

Discussion: Mother Jones and KTLA

Dylan Byers / CNNMoney:
Who is vice presidential debate moderator Elaine Quijano?

Discussion: Washington Post, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Mashable

Niall Stanage / The Hill:
Trump wins momentum boost from Pence — with Kaine assist

Discussion: Politico, BizPac Review, ABC News and Washington Post

A.J. Katz / TVNewser:
Vice Presidential TV Debate Ratings by the Numbers

Discussion: WANE-TV

Alexander Burns / New York Times:
Debate Takeaways: Tim Kaine Presses Mike Pence on Russia, but Not Gay Rights

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Slate, Washington Post, Advocate, New York Magazine, Guardian, Althouse, Towleroad, The Week and Politics K-12

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) lost badly to Indiana Gov. Mike Pence in Tuesday night's vice presidential …

Discussion: Infowars

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Al Gore to campaign for Clinton, hoping to galvanize young voters on climate change — Former vice president Al Gore will start campaigning for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to individuals briefed on the plan, in an effort to mobilize young voters who see climate change as a key issue.

Discussion: New Republic, Talking Points Memo, The Week and The Daily Caller

Sarah Ferris / The Hill:
Bill Clinton goes way off message on ObamaCare

Discussion: Hot Air, Politico, Instapundit, Patterico's Pontifications and ABC News

Alex Griswold / Mediaite:
Andrea Mitchell Says Clinton Will Soon Unveil Secret Weapon to Attract Millennials... Al Gore

Discussion: Red Alert Politics and The Daily Caller

Daniel Strauss / Politico:
Al Gore to hit campaign trail for Clinton

Discussion: RedState and Towleroad

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

WATCH: Megyn Kelly Reminds Conway Why Trump Polls Poorly With Women — In a post-debate interview on Tuesday night, Fox News' host Megyn Kelly pushed Donald Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway to defend the Republican nominee's low poll numbers with women, telling Conway that women …

Discussion: The Week

Callum Borchers / Washington Post:

Donald Trump sniped at Megyn Kelly as the vice presidential debate began — Anyone wondering whether Donald Trump's live tweeting would distract from Tuesday's vice presidential debate didn't have to wait long for an answer: Yes. — Just as the rhetorical contest between Mike Pence …

Discussion: Mediaite, Vox, WANE-TV, USA TODAY College, BizPac Review, NPR, Hullabaloo, Politicus USA, The Week, Mashable and Joe.My.God.

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Momentum shifts in battle for Senate — Democrats are seizing on Sen. Kelly Ayotte — 's (R-N.H.) remarks at a debate that Donald Trump — is “absolutely” a role model for children as a pivotal moment in the race for the Senate majority. — The Democrats see Ayotte's comments …

Discussion: Politico and alan.com

Richard Rubin / Wall Street Journal:

Trump's October Surprise? It Could Be His 2015 Tax Return — Donald Trump has been reeling this week after The New York Times published portions of his 1995 state tax returns showing a $916 million loss that could offset his income from 1996 forward. Releasing the 2015 tax return could give him an opportunity to counter that story.

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
On local radio show, Eric Trump accidentally admits why his father won't release his taxes

Discussion: Politico

New York Times:

N.S.A. Contractor Arrested in Possible New Theft of Secrets — WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. secretly arrested a National Security Agency contractor in recent weeks and is investigating whether he stole and disclosed highly classified computer codes developed to hack into the networks of foreign governments …

Discussion: RT, Business Insider, The Verge and Boing Boing