–6 MOMENTS THAT MATTERED LAST NIGHT: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump weren’t the focus of last night’s debate but their policies and campaign promises were at the center of the face-off. The vice presidential contenders — Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence — were the stars of the evening as they made their cases for their respective running mates. ABC’s SHUSHANNAH WALSHE, MEGHAN KENEALLY, and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI note some of the highlights of the evening’s event. http://abcn.ws/2dvBROt
–FACT CHECKING THE VEEPS: Last night’s debate, which was moderated by Elaine Quijano of CBS News and took place at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., featured two veteran politicians. But were they always telling the truth? How often were they spinning the facts when defending why voters should support their ticket in November? ABC News fact-checked some of the most noteworthy claims made in the debate: http://abcn.ws/2dIwcZ9
–BY THE NUMBERS: An ABC News analysis of last night’s debate shows the showdown was full of cutoffs and disruptions, ABC’s RYAN STRUYK reports, with both candidates topping Donald Trump’s total number of interruptions from last week’s presidential face-off. Tim Kaine interrupted Mike Pence a whopping total of 70 times last night, including 27 times during just the first half hour of the debate. Meanwhile, Pence interrupted Kaine another 40 times. (Trump interrupted Clinton 39 times during last week’s debate vs. only 9 times for Clinton.) Pence also spoke roughly two and a half minutes longer than Kaine (44:46 vs. 42:06), similar to the three-minute gap between Trump and Clinton from last week’s debate (45:03 vs. 41:50).
–MOST MEMORABLE LINES OF THE DEBATE: ABC’s ADAM KELSEY highlights a few of them: http://abcn.ws/2dqJ0RI
–ANALYSIS — ABC’s RICK KLEIN: A campaign that’s often been about nothing was about plenty of somethings Tuesday night. But a vice-presidential debate marred by interruptions and bitter accusations may add up to not much at all. The expected turn to policy didn’t really materialize, crumbling under waves of rehearsed one-liners and crosstalk. Mike Pence came in eager to change the subject, and may well have succeeded. Tim Kaine came in mostly, well, eager — playing aggressor in a debate that hinged on blaming the people at the top of the ticket for many of the nation’s woes. Kaine set his tone early, with digs aimed at Donald Trump’s old “Apprentice” persona, hits on his tax payments — and plenty of reminders of the insults Trump has hurled at various comers. “Donald Trump can’t start a Twitter war with Miss Universe without shooting himself in the foot,” Kaine said, tying Trump’s temperament to his suitability to serve as commander-in-chief. Pence appeared frustrated with Kaine, whose interruptions dominated the flow of discussion. But — in stark contrast to Trump eight days ago — he mostly avoided taking Kaine’s bait. http://abcn.ws/2e0eiA1
FROM THE OVERNIGHT DESK — ERIC TRUMP SAYS FATHER ‘ABSOLUTELY’ PAID FEDERAL INCOME TAX. Following the first vice-presidential debate, the Republican nominee’s son is attempting to put one issue to rest: Taxes. Eric Trump defended his father, saying the real estate mogul has “absolutely” paid federal income tax, ABC’s CANDACE SMITH said. In an interview on CNN, the younger Trump was asked if his father has paid federal income tax within the last 18 years. In a recent story, the New York Times suggested that based on a reported $916 million loss in 1995, Trump could have avoided paying federal income taxes for nearly two decades. “Of course, yes, absolutely. My father pays a tremendous amount of tax, we as a company pay a tremendous amount of tax,” Eric Trump responded. The Trump team has said the returns obtained by the Times were obtained illegally and that Trump has paid hundreds of millions in other types of taxes. But as Trump was pushed later in the interview, he seemed to be referring to taxes the Trump Corporation pays, not taxes paid by Donald Trump himself. http://abcn.ws/2e0qy3G
YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and ADAM KELSEY
KAINE CALLS TRUMP A ‘FOOL OR MANIAC’ ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS. In last night’s VP debate, Sen. Tim Kaine paraphrased a quote by Republican icon Ronald Reagan to suggest that Donald Trump may be a “fool or maniac” on nuclear weapons and someone who “could trigger a catastrophic event” — prompting a response from Gov. Mike Pence that the comment was “even beneath you and Hillary Clinton.” ABC’s EMILY SHAPIRO has more: http://abcn.ws/2dvBROt
WHERE CLINTON AND TRUMP WATCHED THE VP DEBATE LAST NIGHT. Trump was more than 2,300 miles away, watching the debate from the comfort of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. Clinton watched from her home in Chappaqua, New York, an aide told ABC News. More from ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY: http://abcn.ws/2dpMEeY
WHOOPS! — GOP DECLARES MIKE PENCE DEBATE WINNER… BEFORE DEBATE BEGINS. The official GOP website made a grand old gaffe ahead of the debate — declaring Republican candidate Mike Pence the winner before the event was scheduled to start. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the GOP announced that Mike Pence was the “clear winner” of the debate, more than an hour ahead of the start time, ABC’s JULIA JACOBO writes. http://abcn.ws/2cQRfYp
FLASHBACK — 5 MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN VICE-PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE HISTORY. ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and ADAM KELSEY highlighted five memorable moments from prior debates. http://abcn.ws/2d0A3y9
HILLARY CLINTON SHOWS SUPPORT FOR OBAMACARE A DAY AFTER HER HUSBAND CRITICIZED IT. A day after Bill Clinton said Obamacare was “the craziest thing in the world,” Hillary Clinton showed support for President Obama’s signature health care initiative, saying, “It’s a heck of a lot better than starting from scratch.” “I am committed to making sure that people retain coverage that they can afford,” Clinton told reporters at a stop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania yesterday. “And that is going to require taking on premium costs and deductible costs and prescription drug costs.” The Democratic nominee added that the challenge is “to try to make sure that this important step towards providing insurance for every American is fixed and not repealed, which is the Republican position.” http://abcn.ws/2e0ebod
WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE IS SAYING: According to ABC’s ARLETTE SAENZ, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said “of course” the administration wished Clinton had chosen different words to describe “Obamacare.” “It’s not exactly clear to me what argument he was making, and so I’ll let him and his team explain that,” Earnest said in Tuesday’s briefing. http://abcn.ws/2dH3Lpi
TRUMP SAYS BILL CLINTON WENT THROUGH ‘HELL’ WITH HILLARY ON ‘MANY NIGHTS.’ Donald Trump suggested during a speech Tuesday in Arizona that Bill Clinton went through “hell” on “many nights” with his wife, Hillary Clinton. Trump did not elaborate on his remarks, but they came right after he mentioned that the former president called “Obamacare” the “craziest thing” during a speech in Flint, Michigan, on Monday, write ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and ADAM KELSEY. “At least he is honest … In the meantime, she wants to double down on ‘Obamacare.’ I’ll bet he went through hell last night. Can you imagine?” said Trump. http://abcn.ws/2cQMpum
WHO’S TWEETING?
@MrWalterShapiro: Debate pitted Kaine’s social justice vs Pence’s social conservatism. @mcurtisnc3 captures it in @rollcall column: http://bit.ly/2dquBrk
@JoeBrettell: #Pence goal for tonight and this election was rebuild his nat’l political profile. (Success) Defend and drive #trump – (nah) #debates
@markknoller: Expect to hear from @POTUS after he’s briefed by @fema and other federal agencies involved in hurricane prep and response..
@eliseviebeck: How @HillaryClinton might promote Congress’s highest-ranking Latino http://wpo.st/pFb22 @RepBecerra
@TeddyDavisCNN: Two senior Dems tell CNN @algore will hit trail for Clinton in coming weeks. He will hit climate change & raise specter of 2000 Nader redux.