Washington Free Beacon managing editor Aaron MacLean previewed the vice presidential debate on Tuesday morning alongside Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha.
Fox News anchor Heather Childers asked MacLean what he thought Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine and his Republican counterpart Mike Pence should do in the debate Tuesday night.
"They’ve got additional incentive to go hard after the top of the ticket on the other side. Hillary [Clinton] and Donald Trump are the most unpopular major party nominees in American history, so I think we’re going to see a bit of a race to the bottom tonight," Maclean said.
MacLean also said that Pence needs to attack Clinton on vulnerable issues that appeal to traditional Democrats like trade and immigration. Rocha agreed with MacLean, adding that from the Democratic perspective, Kaine should go after Trump on his taxes and both candidates need to show more emotion since there is no enthusiasm for either presidential nominee.
Childers then asked MacLean about Independent voters and how they will play a role in the presidential election.
"This is a problem for both folks on the stage tonight because they both need to–as far as their bases are concerned–attack the top of the ticket on the other side, but I think that kind of thing, as Chuck alludes to, can really turn off folks in the center," MacLean said.
MacLean added that Kaine needs to make a positive case for traditional Democratic views if he wants to attract voters over to his side.
In his second Fox News segment on Tuesday, MacLean highlighted that both nominees at the top of the presidential tickets are historically unpopular. He also reemphasized the importance of the vice presidential nominees attacking the top of the opposing ticket.
"Mike Pence and Senator Kaine are both products of their party’s establishment. They are relatively untainted by scandal and controversy compared to their frontrunners," MacLean said. "That is something people are looking for and something they should be focusing on even as they also work to attack the top of the ticket on the other side, so it’s a difficult course they have to chart tonight."
Childers asked MacLean about both candidates having challenges attracting millennial voters.
MacLean said millennials are focused on the economy and jobs and that Pence has an advantage over Kaine because he is the standard for the populist in the race. Pence is also more of a traditional, small government conservative than Trump, MacLean noted.
"Donald Trump carries that energy that on the left was carried by Bernie Sanders, but Sanders is gone and Trump is left. When Trump talks about trade and immigration and the immigration effects on the economy, I think he’s got the wind behind his back, and I think Kaine is going to be on difficult terrain," MacLean said.