Who Won the VP Debate: Joe Biden Delivers the Knockout Blow
The 2012 vice presidential debate is scheduled for Thursday, Oct 11, starting at 9:00 p.m. EST. Vice President Joe Biden and Republican nominee, Congressman Paul Ryan, will face off in a 90 minute debate to be held at the Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. The debate will be moderated by ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Martha Raddatz. This is the only debate between the candidates and the topics will include both foreign and domestic policy.
The contrasts couldn’t be greater. Biden is the seasoned warrior, with the fiery, yet warm appeal of your favorite uncle at the family barbecue and has been known to make a gaffe or two. His opponent Ryan is the young, handsome, technocrat representing the new generation of Republican conservatism.
An estimated 67 million Americans tuned in to see the Obama-Romney debate last week and there are expectations for higher numbers this week. Biden will be seeking to slow down the momentum of the Republican campaign. Romney has vaulted into the lead in the polls based on his performance in last week’s debate. Ryan, known as a “policy wonk,” represents the intellectual capital of the Republican Party. He will look to follow Romney’s pattern and force Biden to defend the economic record of the administration over the past 4 years.
Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, has authored three budgets for the Republican led House and was a member of the Simpson-Bowles Commission. He should have the advantage on economic policy. Expect Biden to go after Ryan on Medicare, but Ryan has insisted “we want this debate.” Biden has intimate knowledge of the internal deal-making that went on during the debt ceiling crisis and it will be interesting to see if he has a hidden bombshell to drop on Ryan.
Biden, the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who handled the Obama administration's withdrawal from Iraq, should have the advantage in foreign policy.
Ryan and Biden are known to be direct and forceful, and are comfortable in the role of VP attack dog. Expect them to be more aggressive than Obama and Romney were in their debate. The last time we saw Ryan he was having some difficulty explaining the Romney plan for tax reform and Biden will need to pin Ryan down on some substantive detail. Biden who is long on style and coined the slogan, “Bin Laden’s dead and GM’s alive” could find himself in trouble if Ryan forces him to drill down into the weeds.
In this debate Biden has the experience factor having debated Palin in 2008. But Ryan has been effectively presenting the conservative view for America for over 2 years. He should be comfortable in this format. The battle will be grand, the venerable liberal vs. the rising conservative star.
PolicyMic will be covering the presidential debate live. For live updates, bookmark and refresh this page.”
UPDATE: 11:00PM It will be perfectly reasonable for conservatives to point to Raddatz as bias. She is a foreign affairs correspondent, Biden strength is foreign policy, they started off with foreign policy spent a considerable amount of time on foreign policy and conservatives has already planted a story about her "association" with the administration via her husband's relationship with Obama.
UPDATE 10:45PM And the winner is...Biden
UPDATE 10:39 Biden wins, but it was a good debate. I don't expect a poll bump, Biden and Ryan aren't running for President. But Biden definitely gave liberals and Dems some much needed lift.
UPDATE 10:33PM major topics not discussed included immigration and education. Two debates and no discussion on immigration
UPDATE 10:28PM Ryan went in as the vibrant youthful P90X man, but he is leaving as something entirely different. Wait there goes Ryan now, hey come back!!
UPDATE 10:15PM Raddatz wants to talk abortion, first time 2 catholics running for VP. Bigger stat, first time in history there is no WASP as VP/Pres candidate for either major party
UPDATE 10:05PM Biden takes swipe at Raddatz. Raddatz sounds a little frazzled.
UPDATE 9:55PM Guaranteed the conservatives are going to rip Raddatz. Debate moves to defense spending, Afghanistan. This debate is flying.
Charles Blow what is in that cup
UPDATE 9:52PM Ryan has found his sea legs on tax policy.Biden pulled the Jack Kennedy line. Ryan, " Jack Kennedy did it", Biden says, "oh you're Jack Kennedy". Biden ask a question that everyone should ask, "If Romney did so well in Massachusetts, why isn't he contesting in Massachusetts"
UPDATE 9:42PM Biden talking straight to camera i.e. American audience. Biden won't allow Ryan to make his points. Biden challenging Ryan on every fact. Calling him on every invalid statement. Ryan rattled by Biden interrupting, Ryan rattled gets snarky, says to Biden "I know you'reunder duress, because of the last debate. Bad move, shows weakness. Ryan tries to sneak in some Alinsky-speak. Really good flow, only this time it is Biden on the attack. Biden keeps going to the "who do you trust". Raddatz asks for simple answer, Biden snarkly snaps back Moving on to taxes.
UPDATE: 9:35 Topic switches to health care. Ryan brings up Medicare. Biden jabs says Ryan sounds like Palin. ouch. The intellectual sounds like the soccer mom.
UPDATE 9:33PM Biden is attacking, says Ryan personally sent him letters for stimulus funds - stops short of calling Ryan a liar says he is not "candid". Zinger - Biden to Ryan, "any letters you send to me I'll entertain"
UPDATE: 9:30PM Biden drops the 47% bomb. Biden is pumped. Maybe he should have debated Romney. Ryan goes to humanize Romney with a fireside chat story. I thought they had done. Ryan gets first zinger, "I think you know that sometimes things don't come out your mouth the right way" Punch counter punch on human interest stories. Ryan tells of family in tragic auto accident and Romney's support for the family. Biden trumps that story with his personal tragedy of losing his own family to an auto accident.
UPDATE: 9:23PM Biden and Raddatz trying to get Ryan to commit to talk of war. Biden calls Romney a flip flopper. Biden wins first round. Ryan swallowing hard on his foreign policy talking points. Raddatz controlling flow already better than Lehrer. Topic closes move to economics.
UPDATE 9:20PM "FACTS MATTER, MARTHA FACTS MATTER".
UPDATE: 9:12PM Ryan just agreed that Obama was correct to apologize for the Qu'aran burnings and the soldiers urinating on the Qu'aaran.
UPDATE: 9:10PM Biden, chuckling, interrupts Ryan filibuster and calls his comments "mularkey." Going to be a different debate. Biden asserts that he has information from intelligence community that drove Libya response.
UPDATE: 9:03PM Raddatz says format and questioning will be freeflow jockeying back and forth from domestic to foreign policy. Raddatz starts right away with the Benghazi incident. Foreign policy is first question.
UPDATE 9:00PM Dan Qualye says he consulted Ryan on the debates. Speculation at MSNBC as to whther Ryan will betray his future by straying from his conservative roots. Sharpton says, he won't be the first soldier to be removed from the battlefield, Schultz says he has future and must stick to his conservative roots.
UPDATE: 8:56PM Rev Al Sharpton says the debates are like a sporting events. At sporting events if you use steroids, you are disqualifed. Sharpton says Ryan aand Romney use super lying steroids.
UPDATE 8:45PM We often hear of Paul Ryan's penchant for untruths and misrepresentation of facts, but Biden has been known to tell some whoppers himself. In an April 1, 2012, interview on Face the Nation, Biden said that GM was the #1 company in the world. At the time GM was ranked 20th in the world. GM was not even #1 among automakers. In 2007. Biden claimed that his "Biden Crime Bill" put 100,000 cops on the streets. It was more like 60,000. Also in 2007 he said 300,000 babies suffer birth defects each year because their mothers are alcoholics. The actual number is 40,000.In 2010, Biden said every single Senate decison required a filibuster proof 60 votes. Out of 397 roll call votes in the Senate in 2009, only 39 were cloture votes.The Vice President appears to be a little challenged by numbers. Not a good position to be in going up against Paul Ryan, the policy wonk and numbers man of the Republican Party. The fact checking org, Politifact provides the lowdown on Biden’s record. Politifact documents a series of false claims made by Biden through the years. The Ryan file can be found here.
UPDATE: 8:00PM During the Republican presidential primary debates hosted by the Tea Party, CNN had a bizarre introduction. ABC, not to be outdone has chosen the theme song for Paul Ryan's 2 minute introduction at tonight's debate.
UPDATE 7:45PM The Obama-Biden team has prepared a cheat sheet,VP debate cheat sheet: Paul Ryan’s favorite false attacks. A short primer on Medicare, the $5T Romney/Ryan tax plan, the deficit reduction plan and the auto rescue plan. Mother Jones has provided A Readers Guide to the Debate.
UPDATE 7:30PM VP debates have not been "game-changers" and Big Bird agrees. tweets on the short attention span of American politics.
UPDATE 7:25 After the Obama - Romney debate, MSNBC's Chris Matthews had a meltdown. The "tingle down his leg" that he felt for Obama after his election turned into a "load in his pants."
UPDATE 7:11PM What do you think Ryan sees when he thinks of Biden?
UPDATE 6:30PM Biden has been preparing feverishly for the debate, but the pressure of reversing the Romney momentum may just be getting to him.
UPDATE: 6:16PM Jim Carrey stars in what can only be described as a virtuoso performance. "Breathtaking" - Hollywood Reporter; "Spot -on" - Rolling Stone Magazine; 2 Thumbs Up - Roger Ebert; see Jim Carrey as Paul Ryan in "Liar, Liar". Based on actual events.
UPDATE 6:00PM Ever wonder how Paul Ryan went from obscure congressman from the cheese state that supported multiple big government stimulus programs, like T.A.R.P, to the hunky, P90X “wunderkind” of the conservative movement. His secret is revealed here in this exclusive expose.
UPDATE 5:15PM Teacher's Aide Kit for Biden includes: 62% of Ryan's budget cuts come from programs that service lower income Americans. Get em Joe!!
UPDATE 5:00PM The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities latest analysis says that the legacy of Bush policies drive the current deficits. “If not for the Bush tax cuts, the deficit-financed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the effects of the worst recession since the Great Depression (including the cost of policymakers’ actions to combat it), we would not be facing these huge deficits in the near term.”
UPDATE 4:31PM Fox and Friends' Steve Doocy tweeted this debate is "between boy wonder and Mr Blunder" He has released a series of quips, like "Well Fit vs Dim Wit"
UPDATE 4:00PM There is a lot of news on battleground states right before the debates. Dick Morris reports that Romney has increased spending in battle ground states, Real Clear Politics and Rasmussen show Obama losing ground in battleground states and Politico reports Dems increasing voter registration drives in battleground states and winning the race to the ballots.
UPDATE 2:13PM At a campaign appearance, Dr Jill Biden introduces her husband VP Biden and provides some vital intel on why the Vice President just seems to "grow on you."
UPDATE 1:30PM Rasmussen reports that only 18% of Americans believe tonight’s debate will impact their vote. The national survey of likely voters was conducted between Oct 9th and 10th.
UPDATE 12:40PM In what appears to be a preemptive strike to tonight's Biden-Ryan debate, the Republicans have released a new Ryan campaign ad.
UPDATE 12:00PM In his book, "The Price of Politics”, Bob Woodward harshly criticized Obama's leadership style. He found him to be aloof and arrogant. In a Washington Post review of the book, Steve Luxenberg wrote that it sketched a portrait that showed Obama was "perhaps a bit too confident in his negotiating skills and in his ability to understand his adversaries." Republicans rally to the critique and felt that it revealed the man "behind the curtain". In this remarkable clip, the American people confront Obama.
UPDATE: 1:30AM Republican Obstructionism has been a major problem over the past two years. "Key and Peele" provide Obama with an approach to countering Republican obstructionists. Hopefully it is not too little too late.
UPDATE:1:07AM Breaking News!! Obama Revealed!! In this clip Republican's reveal the secret to Obama's performance over the past 4 years.
UPDATE:12:4PM The Daily Show with John Stewart. Stewart's overview of the Romney plan includes a priceless clip from the FDR's 1936 speech. Listen to FDR explain the 2012 Republican plan.
Romney in "Vague Against the Machine" - Stewart wonders like the rest of us, somewhere in there is a plan right? Hello? Any plan, home?
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Democalypse 2012 - Vague Against the Machine www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook
Stewart finds the key to Romney's plan - He's the great Oz!! Well, there are those Magic underpants! Romney explains the loopholes and deductions he will cut with his magic wand.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Democalypse 2012 - Vague Against the Machine - Romney's Wizardry www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Sh ow on Facebook
FDR says "Let me Warn You" about the 2012 Romney/Ryan Plan
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Democalypse 2012 - Vague Against the Machine - The Numbers Guy www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook
UPDATE: 11:55PM Conservative media cries foul over moderator Martha Raddatz, say she's a plant.
The Drudge Report, Breitbart, Rush Limbaugh amongst others have called into question tomorrow's moderator Martha Raddatz' objectivity. Turns out Obama attended her wedding. TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO! How ridiculous is that. The lame story was "broken" by The Daily Caller. Old tricks for Drudge who did the same thing to Gwen Ifill during the 2008 debate.But it goes to show you that the stakes are high and no trick goes unturned. The Daily Caller reported that Raddatz' husband Julius Genachowski, whom Obama would later tap to head the Federal Communications Commission, were Harvard Law School classmates at the time and members of the Harvard Law Review.
Breitbart said, "Is it too much to ask of our corrupt media overlords that if the President of the United States was a guest at one of your staffers weddings that maybe that staffer shouldn't moderate a Vice Presidential debate?" On his talk show, Limbaugh , "So let's see.Martha Raddatz, who is going to moderate the debate on Thursday night between Paul Ryan and Joe Bite Me, hosted Obama at her wedding. She used to be married to the FCC commissioner, Julius Genachowski. Raddatz, Genachowski, and Obama all went to Harvard. (Who didn't in this regime?)" Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren reported that her Fox News colleague Joy Lin ended the so-called controversy. In an email, [she] asked whether the Ryan campaign has any concerns regarding conflict-of-interest or Raddatz’s impartiality, ABC spokesman Michael Steel replied, “No concerns.”
Politico provided this background information on Martha Raddatz:"[She]has never moderated a nationally televised debate. In fact, she’s never even hosted her own television show. She’s a reporter, but she doesn’t cover the presidential campaign, and it’s been four years since she covered politics. She is Senior Foreign Affairs correspondent for ABC, which means her version of “on the trail” is traveling onboard a U.S. warship in the Straits of Hormuz. That makes her an outlier among this year’s presidential debate moderators.
UPDATE: 11:00PM Are you preppin for the big debate?
Watch Bad Lip Reader's "Eye of the Sparrow"
VP debate cheat sheet: Paul Ryan’s favorite false attacks. The short primer on Medicare, the $5T Romney/Ryan tax plan, the deficit reduction plan and the auto rescue plan.
