I was totally impressed by Kaine. And that's from someone who was totally dismayed by Hillary choosing him over Warren. I thought for sure he was wimpy, shallow, and non-confrontational. What a surprise! I had watched the profiles on the two done by C-SPAN from their Archive videos and I wasn't impressed with Kaine, but actually thought Pence spoke with authority and had leadership potential. The debate reversed those opinions. Kaine was assertive, smart, empathetic, and expressed considerably more knowledge of world politics and the fight against terrorism than Pence. His responses were always sharp, to the point and well organized. He was much more engaged and positive in the discussion than Pence. While definitely more prepared and rehearsed than Pence he was also more in the moment, constantly looking either at the moderator or Pence while actively listening. Pence tried for canned responses every time and was usually looking at the floor while he spoke.
All in all, I thought it was more like a real debate than just about any I've seen. Early on it seemed like the moderator lost control with all three talking at once. But then one of them said "I thought this was supposed to be a discussion" and it settled into just that. They were then both allowed to interrupt each other within limits and I thought it was a fair contest. And Kaine definitely dominated. Pence turned out to be a pretty weak debater. But then he was hobbled by the specter of Trump's self-incriminating statements. I kind of wish that one of the Presidential debates would have the same format, except I don't think Hillary could do as well as Kaine. But then she has to deal with the Joker himself.