Page "Jack Kemp" Paragraph 26

Both Al Gore and Kemp had Presidential aspirations, which induced pursuit of debate on a higher plane.

In addition, Gore and Kemp were long-time friends, unlike Gore and his previous vice presidential opponent Dan Quayle.

Thus, as debaters they avoided personal attacks.

However, some felt Kemp failed to counter substantive attacks.

In the final October 9, 1996 Vice Presidential Debate against Al Gore ( held as the Dole – Kemp ticket trailed badly in the national polls ), Kemp was soundly beaten, and Al Gore's performance is considered one of the best modern debate performances.

The debate topics ranged broadly from the usual such as abortion and foreign policy to the unusual such as an incident preceding the then-current baseball playoffs, in which Roberto Alomar, the Baltimore Orioles ' second baseman, cursed and spat on an umpire.

The Mexico policy debate was one of the more interesting topics for critical review.

The Gore victory was not a surprise since Kemp had been outmatched by Gore in previous encounters, and Gore had a reputation as an experienced and vaunted debater.