VP Debate Moves Joe Biden Election Odds To Record Price

Joe Biden’s chances of winning the 2020 US election have reached new heights after the Vice Presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence.

The Harris v Pence televised debate was the only one-on-one meeting between the two VP candidates ahead of November’s election.

The pair sparred over race, the economy and coronavirus in a discussion that was far more cordial than the feisty presidential debate between Biden and Donald Trump earlier in the election campaign.

Biden has been leading his rival Trump in both the polls and US election betting markets ever since the Democrats named his as their candidate for the White House.

Biden Chances of Winning Election Boosted

UK bookmaker Paddy Power have plunged their odds on Biden beating Trump in the November 3 election to an all-time low of 2/5 just hours after the VP debate ended.

That gives a predicted probability of 71% that the Democrat will take the White House.

And Harris’ performance – or at least, Pence’s inability to properly earn a win over his VP rival – has significantly helped Biden’s hopes of winning the election.

Trump, meanwhile, has seen his odds inflate to an all-time high of 15/8, which suggests a 34% chance of winning the election.

Yet just a week ago – before Trump was admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms – the two presidential candidates were far closer in the betting odds.

Trump Losing Ground Fast

Unfortunately for Trump, a fly managed to snatch away much of the attention from Pence’s debate performance, after the bug nestled in the vice president’s hair for around two minutes before buzzing off.

Pence tried and failed to make his pitch to the American people to stick with the Republicans for four more years, with a CNN snap poll showing 59% of viewers thought Harris won the debate.

As for the president, he faces further tough times in the coming weeks after a decision was made to hold the second presidential debate remotely. Instead of clashing on the same podium, Trump and Biden must now face off on-screen during the second debate on October 15.

The decision to pull the in-person contest came after the Commission on Presidential Debates grew concerned over the health of Trump and his team, which follows a spate of Covid-19 cases among his close allies.

Yet Trump insists he will now hold a rally instead of turning up to debate Biden on screen, telling Fox Business: "I am not going to waste my time on a virtual debate.”

Whether or not Trump changes his mind remains to be seen. But the president is in need of a huge poll boost between now and the start of November if he is to regain traction in this race.