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_ Sic transit gloria mundi _ : there is nothing like a fly landing on a vice-presidential head of hair in the middle of a TV debate to remind us of the transience of political ambition. As

Mike Pence prattled on, the fly stayed put on his well-coiffed locks for more than two minutes before buzzing off. Scores of millions of American viewers watched, transported with delight or

transfixed by disgust. It wasn’t just that an insect had outfoxed the silver fox. On the other side of the screen sat Kamala Harris. If Pence is the man who wasn’t there, Harris is the

woman who will always be here. Biden is convincing in the part of the nation’s doting uncle. But just in case Uncle Joe really does enter his dotage, Kamala Harris is to die for as Rosa

Klebb. If she plays her cards right, the Californian could dominate American politics for the next 12 years: first as Biden ’ s _eminence grise_, playing Dick Cheney to his George W. Bush,

ready to take over in a heartbeat if — God forbid — anything should happen to Uncle Joe. Then she can hope to be elected as a two-term President in her own right.   Kamala Harris did what

was her duty as a running mate: she seized every opportunity to praise the man she had torn to shreds during the primaries for his opposition to racial integration during the 1970s. Until

last night, her best-known line had come when she paid tribute to the once controversial policy of busing schoolchildren that Biden had fought at the time. “That little girl was me,” she had

declared. “That little girl”, now a senator and vice presidential candidate, took visible pleasure in turning her controlled aggression onto Mike Pence. He stands for everything she

despises: the mid-Western, small-town, God-fearing and above all white America that reliably votes Republican. She is emerging as the voice of the progressive, coastal, cosmopolitan radicals

who want to bury, once and for all, the conservative consensus that has endured since the Reagan era. Bankrolled by Silicon Valley and boosted by the academic and media elites, the radical

Democrats are now far stronger than they were even under Obama. Biden is their figleaf, but Harris will be their leader. Pity poor Pence. He put in a decent performance, calmly rebutting the

more _outré _accusations from the other side of the screen. Despite the mutual loathing, the atmosphere was polite. If the campaign had been going well, such a solid, if unmemorable,

defence of the Administration might have been good enough. Even as he was speaking, however, his boss was upstaging him with a running commentary on Twitter. It served to remind everybody

that Mike Pence hasn’t even played second fiddle to Donald Trump — he’s been lucky to be allowed to play the triangle.   All Harris had to do was to avoid making mistakes — and this she did,

effortlessly. When the Green New Deal came up, she deftly sidestepped the question. A tougher moderator would have pressed her on the moral implications of phasing out fracking in Red

(Republican-leaning) and creating new green jobs in Blue (Democrat-leaning) states. But when Pence tried interrupting Harris in mid-flow, she cut him off by delivering her best one-liner of

the evening: “Mr Vice President, I am speaking.” On the most sensitive issues of the day, Harris won on points. There was no good answer to her charge that the Trump Administration had

withheld vital information throughout the pandemic that the public had a right to know. Pence made the best of a bad job by claiming that his party trusted the American people to make the

right decisions for themselves, but few will have been persuaded by the monkey when the organ-grinder has just been replaying his tune that Covid-19 is less deadly than flu. Pence was on

stronger ground when he defended Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, against the vituperative attacks of the Left. By defending her right as a Catholic to hold pro-life views,

he came across as tolerant and gallant. But Harris reminded him that she, too, was a Catholic (of a sort) and so, for that matter, was Uncle Joe. Were Biden to be elected, he would be only

the second practising Catholic (since JFK) to occupy the White House. Pence was indeed raised as a Catholic, only to be born again as an Evangelical later in life. Not wishing to comment on

the bitter divisions within a Church to which he no longer belongs, Pence had to back off. Wise politicians don’t do theology. Thus did the only devout Christian at the top of either party

fail to expose the anti-Christian bigotry of the radical Democrats. Such a line of attack might have been a game-changer, especially among black and Latino voters, if only Pence had been

able to think on his feet. Likewise, he failed to capitalise on Trump’s record as the greatest presidential benefactor of the Jewish people since Harry Truman recognised the state of Israel

in 1948. Identity politics, however, does not come naturally to old-fashioned Republicans like Pence.   It’s unlikely that a single voter will have changed sides as a result of the duel of

the Veeps. With the Republican polling numbers in meltdown, a score draw was another step towards the White House for Biden. All he needs to do now, in his final two TV encounters with

Trump, is to follow Teddy Roosevelt’s advice: speak softly and carry a big stick. The fact that, aged 77, he may soon need to lean on that stick no longer matters. If he does stumble, Kamala

will be there to catch him. Like El Cid, Biden will stay strapped onto his warhorse to rally the troops long after he expires. As long as Mad King Donald looks ever more deranged, it is

enough for Uncle Joe merely to look sane. For the Republican campaign, the biggest fly in the ointment is their own President.