Heidi M. Przybyla

USA TODAY

FARMVILLE, Va. — Donald Trump’s campaign was quick to declare Tuesday’s vice presidential debate a win — but it may be a win primarily for Mike Pence.

A CNN/ORC instant poll following the face off at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., showed debate watchers gave the Indiana governor an edge by six points after Sen. Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate, received scrutiny for frequently interrupting. Meantime, Pence managed to accomplish what Trump failed to achieve in round one of his three debates with Clinton by hammering the Democratic presidential nominee on everything from donations to her family's foundation to her foreign policy record as secretary of State.

What Pence didn’t do is offer a full-throated defense of his running mate, Trump. It’s something Kaine quantified midway through the debate when he pointed out that Pence had passed on six different opportunities to defend the real estate mogul on issues that included Trump's past statements about women and minorities, as well as his controversial foreign policy pronouncements like allowing countries such as Saudi Arabia to acquire nuclear weapons.

Top takeaways from the vice presidential debate

On other points, including Trump's prior support for a deportation task force and his statement that women who get abortions should be punished, Pence falsely claimed Trump never said them in the first place rather than defend those comments. And while he defended Trump’s business record, Pence didn’t say the GOP presidential nominee was making the right choice in not releasing his tax returns, which has become a major campaign flash point.

Asked to summarize the debate, Republican surrogates stressed how Trump could learn from his running mate's performance.

“It just reaffirmed to people that Donald Trump’s going to surround himself with strong people,” said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican. “Trump probably could have done better, but he’s not a professional politician,” he said of Trump’s prior debate performance.

“I think he learned what a great choice he made,” said David Bossie, Trump's deputy campaign manager.

Fact check: Pence vs. Kaine in the VP debate

Democrats weren’t as quick to declare victory as they were following Clinton’s debate with Trump at Hofstra University on Long Island last week. “He (Kaine) came in amped up,” said Mo Elleithee, a senior aide from Clinton’s 2008 campaign and a Kaine confidante who helped him prepare for the debate.

“If, at the end of the day, the narrative is ‘Mike Pence didn’t defend Donald Trump and Tim Kaine was too interrupty’ that’s a pretty good balance for the Clinton folks. I think they’re willing to take the short-term style hit for the longer term strategic hit,” said Elleithee.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, said Pence “had a high bar and that high bar was to change the trajectory of this election.”

“He hasn’t been able to do it” because “it is very difficult to defend Donald Trump’s positions,” she said.

Analysis: Sorry, guys. It's not about you. It's all Trump

Vice presidential debates rarely affect the trajectory of presidential elections, and this one is likely to be no different, especially given the mixed message Pence may have sent by passing on aggressively defending Trump. Presidential elections are always about the candidates at the top of the ticket, which means the spotlight is likely to quickly shift back to Trump and Clinton, who meet for their second match on Sunday in St. Louis.

“Kaine wanted to walk out of here with that argument, that not even Mike Pence is willing to defend Donald Trump, and I thought he landed that,” said Elleithee. As for Pence, some Republicans are saying his smooth performance means the biggest loser of the night isn't Kaine, rather Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican who wants to be seen as the future social conservative leader of his party. “Pence set himself up very nicely — for 2020," said Elleithee.

Contributing: Eliza Collins