by Jack
Consensus says it was pretty much a draw and that each party had something to like about their respective candidates performance. On the negative side viewers seemed to be most critical of Joe Biden for interrupting Ryan. He broke in 82 times…allegedly just to set the record straight and answer point by point. But, this tactic came off as rude and more than a little annoying to the undecided voters and certainly to the conservatives. He probably lost as much as he gained by it. Biden diminished the debate and cut short what we could have learned had he not interrupted so much.
Biden was characterized as being on laughing gas. He grinned like the Cheshire Cat every time Ryan tried to make a good point. In short he hurt his own case by being condescending and dismissive. Then again, his job was to go on the attack using the Pitt Bull Tactic and then try to make his boss’s positions look as good as possible. He attacked and interrupted relentlessly and for that show of Chicago style politics he was praised by his boss immediately after the debate ended.
It was interesting that most of the debate was centered around US foreign policy and not the US economy. Biden has considerably experience here and Ryan almost none, but Ryan held his own, despite having widely contrasting points on almost everything. Regarding Afghanistan Biden let it be known that as long as we are there the Afghan forces are not going to step up, and they will be content for Americans to do their fighting. He said the president’s time table for pulling out in 2014 is reasonable and we’re on course. Ryan contrasted this by saying they would like to be out in 2014 too, but only if we could depart with some assurance that the gains made would not be lost. He added they didn’t want to set a time line because this enables the enemy to sit back and wait until we’re gone. Maybe, but given the recent events the Taliban isn’t sitting back, we’ve just crossed over 2000 killed and 50 killed this year by blue on green attacks. The fact is, if we stayed our gains could be still be at risk 10 years from now, just as easily as in one more year. It all depends on how motivated the average Afghani is to defend what we call gains. If, after 11 years of trying to get them motivated and they still are having trouble getting the big picture, we might want to consider cutting our losses.
As for Iran, both sides are miles apart. Biden thinks they are no where near to producing fissionable material and a delivery system. Ryan thinks they now have enough to make at least 5 bombs and this happened on Obama’s watch. Nobody can say for sure who was right on this one.
At the end of the debate it was gratifying to see the families on stage talking to each other. Politics didn’t seem to divide these folks, they set a good example.
I enjoyed the first debate and I think now it was because Romney set a tone of professionalism and leadership. He took command, was polite, interested and eager to engage while maintaining respect for the President and the process.
The debate tonight was awful. Biden set the tone early on by putting the nice guy mask over his mad dog attitude. When he wasn’t being condescending or dismissive he was just plain rude. Instead of a contrast of ideas we got a grown man attempting to chew the leg off his opponent. Ryan took it in stride and managed to get a few points of interest on the table. It was obvious he would prefer to debate the possibilities…and he genuinely wants to make our economy live again!
Mostly it was a waste of time. It will be interesting to see if it has any impact on the race.
I found this article and comments on Yahoo News very Interesting. The article is very much pro Biden, but the comments are very pro Ryan and anti Biden. Keith 1s comment cracked me up.
That saying, You can fool some of the people some of the time.: is proving true according to the comments.
I thought Biden was high on himself and was told to pick up the ball fumbled by Obama and run for the end zone. He also demonstrated the liberal/progressive attitude of taking from others by interrupting Ryan 86 times denying him the opportunity to speak. Peg
Biden, the anti-Obama, brings exasperation to debate with Ryan
By Hillary
685 comments
Walchung
The choice is this…Which one of these two men would you want to be President of the United States should something happen to the sitting President? I think the choice is clear.
Tim Reade
naw you want the dude that doesnt know what hes talking about trying to figure out what the trigger does right?
Steve Curtis
I hope Biden doesn’t interrupt my post here.
Cogito Ergo Sum
Those of us who have been paying attention could see obama as another carter, only worse, and despite all the rigged polls, it’s good to see the majority of Americans have had it with obama !!
Russell
constant interrupting and smirking and changing the subject… are sign of a desperate and insecure people–anytime–any party–any election. In this case, it is 2012, Joe owns the copyright.
Jeff
Ol’ Joe will have a job for Teeth Whitener or Denture Cleaner next year.
keith l
I think Joe Biden just put a nail in the coffin for legalizing pot.
jboogie
I’m tired of these reporters who keep saying “does this debate really matter to Americans.” What the hell is wrong with you people? Of course it matters. It’s about who will be the VP of our country! Asking a question like that makes you look like a #$%$
Tuf Nut
Biden – rude and an a**hole. Ryan – composed and factual. Who do you want to be one heartbeat away from the presidency?
Clif
like i said before biden reminds me of mutley the dog!
MK 2 mins 32 secs agoReport Abuse
I think this showed the difference between Libs and cons. Libs are loud mouth and disrespectful, claim everything is a lie, try to scare everybody into some sales pitch. Ryan acted with far more class than I would have. He missed some great opportunities, but I don’t know if it was because Biden… More
ralph
CNN just release a poll on who won the vice-president debate. Rayn=48% and Biden 44%. However they claim that it was a tie!! I am not a rocket scientist, but is 48 = 44?
It most be new liberal press math interpretation!!
GoldenBoys
Joe is like the drunk uncle that used to come over to pinch his niece’s behind, smiling inappropriately and stumbling over the cat.
m.
martha won her gold star tonight for being such a good democrat.
RNC: Laughing at the Issues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PCtemaHgjyA
ABC News, said he interrupted 82 times. Biden even interrupted the moderator, His chuckling and smirking was contrived, his goal, in my opinion was to diminish Ryan.
regarding the moderator, she should have reined that behavior in she did a poor job.
Harriet, I absolutely agree with your comments. I think Biden’s job was too bully Ryan and make him and his running mate look small. Right after the debate Obama said he was very proud of the job he did. I bet he was. Chicago style politics again.
Proverb 29:9 – When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man, The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest. (American Standard Version)
VP Ryan won it hands down. Biden came off like a retarded pervert, he was creepy.
Whether you like his style or not, Biden schooled Ryan completely.
Ryan was all theory and no practice. Biden is a veteran politician, and it showed. He knew his material inside-out, talked directly to the voters, and called bullshit when it was necessary. Ryan was a nerdy know-it-all who recited a script full of mistruths.
We are not voting for a Boy Scout pack leader here folks, and nice, polite schoolboy behavior is not what I am looking for in a leader.
Foreign policy is a complicated, difficult, tough, and a wild game of theatre, doubletalk, bluff and compromise. I want the smartest guys in the room representing me in this world, and I’d pick Biden over Ryan any day of the week.
Thanks for weighing in with your thoughts zeeko.
Biden wasn’t schooling anybody. He was spinning and attacking to keep from having to be honest about the utter failures of the last almost four years:
Factcheckers:
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2012/10/11/joe_bidens_debate_lies_on_libya
http://freebeacon.com/biden-claims-he-voted-against-afghanistan-iraq-wars/
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/12/Fact-Check-Top-Ten-Worst-Lies-by-Joe-Biden-in-VP-Debate
There were others but this is more than enough. The disingenuous and pathetic discourse about his religion was barf inducing. this administration has done exactly what he attempted to say he would not do…impose his values on others. The healthcare contraceptive mandate imposes values on Catholic and other religious institutions by force of government. It doesn’t get more oppressive or intrusive than that! (and Gods probably gonna get him for that one)
Townhall, Free Beacon and Breitbart are not and do not have “fact checkers,” Tina.
You can find actual fact-checking of both participants in the debate here:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/oct/11/fact-checking-vice-presidential-debate-between-joe/