Washington super lawyer Robert Barnett, who played Sen. Bernie Sanders in mock debate sessions opposite Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary, has stepped in to play the role of Mike Pence opposite Tim Kaine. | POLITICO Screen grab Exclusive: Robert Barnett to play Mike Pence in Tim Kaine debate prep

He’s traded in his role as a wild-haired Jewish Socialist from Vermont for a buttoned-up evangelical Christian from Indiana.

Washington super lawyer Robert Barnett, who played Sen. Bernie Sanders in mock debate sessions opposite Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary, has stepped in to play the role of Mike Pence opposite Tim Kaine ahead of the sole vice presidential debate on October 4, POLITICO has learned.


Barnett, a staple of Hillary Clinton’s debate prep team for decades and her longtime book agent, is also still involved with her prep team, which is being overseen by attorney and former Clinton adviser Karen Dunn; Ron Klain, who is Joe Biden’s former chief of staff; and Clinton’s senior policy aide Jake Sullivan.

But Barnett has taken on a larger role as Kaine’s sparring partner. He has studied up on Pence, the more restrained personality on the Republican ticket. Pence has been trying to hold the party’s conservative tent together and act as part of the clean-up crew around Donald Trump when the candidate goes off script, like he did on Friday when he called for Clinton’s secret service to “disarm immediately and “see what happens to her.”

With the race tightening -- Trump has eaten away at the lead Clinton established after the party conventions last July -- the first debate between the two nominees on Sept. 26 is being touted as the most crucial moment in the race for both candidates. One longtime Clinton adviser called it “the single most effective moment for her to make Trump look ineffective and small.” For Trump, the adviser said, it’s the last real chance to “show he can be presidential.”

And with two deeply divisive and well-known characters at the top of their respective tickets, there is far less anticipation for the Kaine-Pence face-off, a meeting of two lesser known politicians who have held up their restraint and boring nature as virtues.

Their debate is expected to be more about amplifying the messages from the top of the ticket -- and in a best-case scenario, being able to articulate their running mates better than the actual candidates can.

The question of who will play Trump in Clinton’s debate prep has been Washington’s favorite guessing game, and so far is a tightly held secret in the small group that participates in the sessions.

Barnett is an old hand at playing the opponent, a time-consuming enterprise of trying to anticipate everything that person will say in response to any question. He played the role of George Bush in practice debates against Geraldine Ferraro, Michael Dukakis and Bill Clinton. In 2000, he played the role of Dick Cheney in practice sessions with Joe Lieberman, and in 2004 he reprised the role in practice with John Edwards.

Barnett declined to comment on his role. The Clinton campaign declined to comment.