Tonight is the vice presidential debate between Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Gov. Mike Pence, and a new poll shows that a solid chunk of Americans have no clue who either of these people are. A recent ABC News/SSRS poll showed that 46 percent of people were unable to name the Democratic running mate, and 41 percent of people could not identify Pence as as Trump's running mate.
People under the age of 50 were less likely to know the running mate of either party, and people over the age of 50 said that they were more likely to watch the VP debate.
From ABC:
ABC News together with our partners at SSRS survey research firm asked an online opinion panel about the upcoming debate between Republican Gov. Mike Pence and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, which takes places Tuesday at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.
Asked to identify Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton's running mates, 41 percent of respondents could not correctly name the GOP's vice presidential nominee and 46 percent were unsure of the name of the Democratic vice presidential nominee. A majority of Americans say they are likely to tune in to the debate Tuesday night. Sixty-four percent are likely to watch the vice presidential showdown, 10 percent fewer than the number who said they expected to watch the first presidential debate between Democratic nominee Clinton and Republican nominee Trump last week.
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Compared to the 2008 and 2012 elections, it does seem as if there's been much lower emphasis and attention paid to the vice presidential candidates. In 2008, it almost seemed as though more attention was paid to then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin than the actual man on the top of the ticket. While it's somewhat refreshing that the attention is being spent on the actual candidates running for president, it is also somewhat troubling that people can't even name the person who is going to take over if something (God forbid) were to happen to the person at the top of the ticket.
The vice presidential debate airs tonight at 9 p.m. eastern.
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