Here’s who won the vice-presidential debate, according to one poll – and partisans | McClatchy Washington Bureau

Mike Pence emerged as the winner of Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate against Tim Kaine, according to a post-debate survey.

A CNN/ORC instant poll found that 48 percent of voters who watched the debate felt that Pence, the Republican governor from Indiana, did a better job while 42 percent thought Kaine, a Democratic senator from Virginia, was the victor.

“He was able to stick to policy. He is very affable, very genial — unlike Senator Tim Kaine (who) for whatever reason could not stop interrupting both Mike Pence and the female moderator,” Donald Trump presidential campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Wednesday on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

But despite giving Pence a narrow victory, 58 percent of voters who watched the debate thought Kaine did a better job in defending Hillary Clinton while only 38 percent said believed that Pence did a better job in backing Trump.

Throughout the debate, Pence dodged questions about Trump’s tax returns, comments he’s made about women and his immigration proposals.

When asked who won the debate, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said, “Donald Trump lost.”

“What I’m trying to say is that, you know, Governor Pence was smooth,” Podesta said. “He seemed sort of likable but he didn’t get the job done. The vice president’s job is to go in and try to defend the top of the ticket. Mike Pence looked like more like he was looking at 2020 than 2016. He kind of walked away. . . . He didn’t sound at all like what Donald Trump has been saying out on the campaign trail.”

Still, several political veterans gave the debate to Pence for displaying a measured tone and demeanor during the 90-minute session, something he needed to do after Trump’s shaky performance against Clinton in last week’s presidential debate.

Kaine, they said, came across as too aggressive – often interrupting Pence – and perhaps over-prepared with canned lines that sometimes fell flat.

“I thought Pence was effective in demeanor, and Senator Kaine . . . he was interrupting absolutely all the time,” said Libertarian vice presidential candidate William Weld, a former Republican Massachusetts governor, told WABC radio host Rita Cosby. “So he must’ve been coached to do that, but I thought it wore a little thin.”

But some Clinton supporters claimed that Kaine got the better of Pence, putting him on his heels in trying to defend some of Trump’s words and proposals.

“I thought he put Governor Pence on the defensive right from the start,” Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said on CNN’s “New Day” Wednesday. “I think there was a lot of material for Tim to work with last night . . . there clearly is a stark contrast. Michael Pence was is in a very tough position, he cannot defend Donald Trump and he didn’t.”