Hillary Clinton would paint her "positive" vision of the US, her running mate Time Kaine said today on the eve of the crucial debate in New York between the Democratic presidential nominee and her Republican rival Donald Trump.
"What I expect her to do tomorrow is certainly defend herself from what Trump may say, but, at the end of the day, paint this positive vision (of the US) that really is what is animating her to run for president," Kaine told CBS News.
He acknowledged that this would be tight race.
Recent polls reflect a dead heat between Clinton and Trump.
"I think this thing is going to be close right up until the end. We have got to make our case every day. The debates are a great way to do that," he said.
Kaine said the 68-year-old former secretary of state has a long track record of service in public life.
"You can look at that. I tell the story about her being first lady of the United States, when the effort to get Hillary Clinton done failed, and that was a tough, tough, bitter loss, but then it tested her as a leader. And she worked together with Democrats and Republicans to get health insurance for eight million low-income American children in the CHIP programme," he said.
Kaine said according to him, the measure of character in somebody in public life is whether they have a passion for somebody other than themselves and whether they keep after that passion whether they are winning or losing.
"Hillary has demonstrated that again and again.
"I think that's a sharp contrast to a Donald Trump, whose only recognised passion in his life has been for himself. No great president in this country has been primarily a me-first person. The great presidents are people who watch out for others, and that's who Hillary Clinton has been, that's who she is, and that's who she will be," he said.
On the other hand, Kaine's Republican counterpart Mike Pence said Trump has been preparing for the debate all his life.
"I think Donald Trump has been preparing for this debate for his entire lifetime," Pence said at the same Sunday talk show.
"He's built a great business. He's travelled the country, and particularly in this campaign. Donald Trump has been out among the American people. I think he's given voice to the frustrations and aspirations of the American people like no American leader in my lifetime since Ronald Reagan," he said.
He reiterated that the moderator should not do fact-check during the debate.
"We all had the experience a few years ago of Mitt Romney being interrupted and being challenged on an assertion that he made. I believe it was about the tragedy in Benghazi. And it turned out the moderator was wrong. I think the important thing is, is that the American people hear from these two candidates. The choice in this campaign could not be more clear," he said, adding that in Trump, "we have a leader who literally embodies the American spirit".
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