The Note: Pence, Harris speak loudly in what they failed to answer at debate

The TAKE with Rick Klein

They had plenty to say about each other -- even if they didn't resort to name-calling.

But they weren't always quick to talk about their own takes. Both Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris at times ducked key questions at Wednesday night's debate -- and what they didn't want to say speaks to potential campaign weak spots in the final stretch.

Perhaps mindful of the right, Pence did not answer what state abortion laws he favored if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Amid pressure from the left, Harris would not say whether she would support expanding the size of the Supreme Court if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed.

Pence chose not to engage on a lingering question from last week's presidential debate, about whether he would respect the results of the election. Trump's answers to such questions have dogged Republicans and enraged Democrats for weeks.

Either President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden would be on track to become the oldest-ever president. But even with Trump still undergoing medical treatment for COVID-19, neither of the running mates revealed specific thoughts about procedures around potential presidential disability.

The one and only vice-presidential debate at times felt removed from the frenetic campaign pace surrounding this moment. Yet when Pence and Harris were at their most careful is where some of the most impactful answers might have come.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

Where he could have spiked the football for social conservatives, Pence artfully sidestepped instead. Pence was asked about the nomination of Barrett to the Supreme Court and the possibility of this administration cementing a conservative majority that could very well overturn Roe v. Wade.

"Access to abortion would then be up to the states. Vice President Pence, you're the former governor of Indiana. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, what would you want Indiana to do, would you want your home state to ban all abortions?" moderator Susan Page asked, but Pence did not directly answer.

"I'm pro-life. I don't apologize for it," he said, but only later in the follow-up question.

At first on the topic he pivoted and, in broad terms, celebrated Barrett's nomination and attacked Democrats with claims about how they handle abortion that stretched the truth, to say the least. He never returned to the idea about states banning all abortions.

It was a fascinating and telling moment as Pence's staunch position on abortion is fairly well-known, but it's Democrats that know it is a winning issue for them, not Republicans, with those much-needed independent women right now.

The fact that Pence was potentially more worried than eager to take a victory lap on that one says a lot about the politics around the issue, fight for suburban women and the coming hearings in the Senate next week.

The TIP with Meg Cunningham

As the president recovers from the coronavirus in the White House and talks of an additional stimulus package are up in the air, vulnerable Republican senators are distancing themselves from the president and his response to the pandemic in an effort to keep a hold on their seats.

During the Arizona Senate debate on Tuesday night, Sen. Martha McSally toed a careful line by avoiding criticizing the president but refusing to answer when asked if she was proud to support him. She instead quickly pivoted to her accomplishments for Arizonans. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis had a similar response during his debate with the Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham. Tillis praised Trump for implementing a travel ban, but refused to criticize him further, instead highlighting his own accomplishments, including delivering coronavirus relief to his constituents.

Across 2020's consequential battlegrounds, the president's approval rating on his response to the coronavirus is underwater, and it's affecting races down the ballot. Even in Iowa, a state the president won by nearly 10 points in 2016, Democrat Theresa Greenfield is leading in the polls against incumbent Sen. Joni Ernst and Democratic nominee Joe Biden is inching in front of the president. In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins is up with an ad asking voters there to cast their ballot for her "no matter who you're voting for for president."

It's a careful game to play under a president who demands support from his party, but while his favorability trends downward in the final push to Election Day, vulnerable incumbents are deciding to distance themselves from the White House they once consistently praised.

ONE MORE THING

The live, 90-minute vice presidential debate, moderated by USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page, touched on the coronavirus, the economy, climate change, the Supreme Court and more. ABC News fact checked what both candidates said.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. Thursday morning's episode features ABC News Deputy Political director MaryAlice Parks, who recaps Wednesday night's vice presidential debate between Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence. ABC News' Marcus Moore describes a police shooting in Texas that saw an officer quickly charged with murder. And ABC News' Patrick Reevell tells us what we need to know about the fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia.http://apple.co/2HPocUL

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

• Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, D- Calif., participate in an American Indian tribal leader greet in Phoenix and then launch their "Soul of the Nation" bus tour at 2 p.m. MT.
• Vice President Mike Pence will attend a campaign rally in Boulder City, Nevada, at 10 a.m. PT and then attend a campaign rally in Peoria, Arizona, at 11:30 a.m. MT.

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The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the day's top stories in politics. Please check back tomorrow for the latest.