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October 12, 2012 04:36 PM UTC

Joe Biden Kicks The "Stuff" Out Of Paul Ryan--And Why It Matters

  • 35 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

A roundup of post-veep debate coverage, starting per usual with FOX 31’s Eli Stokols:

Less than four weeks from the end of an election that will likely be determined by which party’s base shows up, Vice President Joe Biden did something essential in a 90-minute debate with his GOP challenger Paul Ryan – he fired up a beleaguered base.

It’s unclear, however, if Biden did Democrats good or bad with undecided voters – as television networks’ undecided voter panels offered different conclusions about who won the debate.

While this debate isn’t likely to change the dynamics of the election to the degree last week’s incredibly flat performance by President Barack Obama has fueled a sudden surge for Mitt Romney, Biden’s performance offered distraught Democrats the energy and emotion and punch they wanted to see last Wednesday night from the president.

Politico’s Alexander Burns:

The debate was a head-snapping role reversal from last week’s first presidential debate in Denver, which featured a subdued Barack Obama and a combative, insistent Mitt Romney…

The substantive flashpoints of the debate tended to play to Biden’s strengths, more than to Ryan’s. With much of the evening devoted to foreign policy, Biden – a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – touted the administration’s record of fighting terrorism and heavily underscored its commitment to withdrawing troops from Afghanistan by 2014.

Ryan was at his most sure-footed on domestic policy, though there, too, an almost-hectoring Biden forced him on the defensive on the issues of entitlement reform and taxes. Pressed by both Biden and the moderator on how Romney’s pledge to cut taxes while balancing the budget might add up, Ryan pledged it’s possible to “cut tax rates by 20 percent and still preserve … important” deductions for the middle class.

Over and over, Biden’s tactic of choice was a gut-level punch at the GOP, turning to the camera at one point in an exchange over Medicare and asking viewers: “Look, folks, use your common sense: who do you trust on this?”

And Ezra Klein of the Washington Post:

Biden succeeded tonight. He had a simple job: Stop the bleeding. Buck up the troops. Make all those Democrats out there who’ve been fighting for the Obama campaign feel that the Obama campaign is also fighting for them. And so Biden came out tonight and picked a fight. He did everything Democrats wished Obama had done a week ago. He called out Ryan’s “malarkey” early and forcefully. He returned again and again to the 47 percent comments. He fought for core Democratic issues like protecting Medicare and Social Security.

The post-debate spin told the tale. The Romney campaign argued Biden was too aggressive, too bullying, too mean. The Obama campaign argued that Biden had destroyed Ryan. Judging from my Twitter feed, most Democrats agreed. They saw the fight in Biden that they’d wanted to see in Obama. They felt the Obama campaign had learned from last week and changed their strategy. That was Biden’s job tonight, and he did it.

Our view: we commented yesterday that the overwhelming judgment by viewers and pundits that Mitt Romney won last week’s debate against Barack Obama–by almost 4-to-1, an historic margin–masked a large segment of Democrats who acknowledged Romney’s rhetorical victory over a passive Obama, but reject Romney’s underlying agenda. There is consensus that Romney won the debate, which includes a large number who will never vote for Romney.

Those are the people Joe Biden needed to rescue from despair last night.

And so while Biden’s feisty, even a bit combative performance will be panned by partisan Republicans in total game-face mode now as the election nears, Biden’s domination of Ryan on both style and substance is certain to have a profound rallying effect on base Democrats. This is, as everyone reading our blog today knows, a base turnout election. And there’s no question that, coming out of last week, Democratic morale had taken a hit.

Now, at least until Obama’s chance to even the score against Romney–a chance Obama absolutely must not blow–Democrats have a standard-bearer on the ticket to rally around. This is why it doesn’t matter if the flash polls say Biden and Ryan fought to “a draw.” Last night, the job was to restore the confidence of the Democratic base at a critical time; and that he managed to do so may well go down as the greatest moment in Joe Biden’s political career.

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35 thoughts on “Joe Biden Kicks The “Stuff” Out Of Paul Ryan–And Why It Matters”

  1. That’s right, Joe. Thank you.

    And now, all of you, it’s time to get to work. Obama will finish the job next week.

    We will carry Colorado and we will stop Mitt Romney.

    We will stop Joe Coors and maybe Coffman and Tipton, too.

    We will hold the state senate and our victory will be measured in part not by whether we retake the state house, BUT BY HOW MANY SEATS.

    I am a proud Democrat today. Let’s go!

  2. Biden’s performance last night was a spine infusion for the party, IMHO.

    We (Democrats) have candidates out there getting national press for standing up to the bullies in ways we just haven’t done since the crushing loss of 1994. We’re being more direct in confronting the tower of lies and misinformation that allow the GOP platform to advance.

    In that context, Biden’s animated showing last night was a cornerstone to build on. Biden attacked when Ryan tried to spout bull. Biden laughed at some of it for being so ridiculous. It was genuine, and it was strong.

    Hopefully we don’t go back to Passive Obama on the 16th at the next debate. It’s time for everyone on the Left to stop fooling ourselves; we can’t heal the country through unwise compromise right now – best to confront what faces us head on, at every opportunity.

      1. Above all, I wanted Biden to stop the whining, self-fulfilling prophecies of defeatist Democrats like dwyer.  He came out smoking, rallied the troops and, in the opinion of 500 undecided voters polled by CSB, won handily, 50 pct. to 31 pct.

  3. Thank you Joe Biden in pointing out in plain language how full of shit Paul Ryan and his boss are.

    Critical key performance done very, very well.  That was a big fucking deal !

  4. When the only thing being criticized about Biden’s performance is his smile and his laugh.

    If you’re debating the Baby Genius of the entire Republican party and you have time to smile and laugh, he’s not doing his job. If Ryan were a capable debater, Biden would have had to spend that time preparing responses. Instead, I’m pretty sure the Ryan we saw last night would have lost to a 13-year-old Beau Biden in a middle school debate competition, much less Daddy Biden at his finest.

    Ryan did display excellent looking into the camera skills, though. He furrowed his brow very seriously from time to time.  

    1. He pretty much stuck to the same debunked nonsense he was selling at the RNC, unlike Romney who was playing Twister to come up with new positions on the fly at his debate.

      The next debate in town hall format should be interesting.  I suspect neither Romney nor Obama will voluntarily yield the floor.  It’ll be more like the old Crossfire show.

    2. He’s a well known fellow, who has contributed at lot to the non profit and public education communities. He has employed thousands of Coloradoans over the years as they’ve created sustainable assets that continue to generate significant state and local tax revenues.

      My friend starts off with a personal perspective, but quickly moves to the substance.

      Obama policies are based on a central-planning model of government which is not the American way.

      Never before have I assumed that a face can be so revealing. In watching the vice-presidential debate, Joe Biden’s face said it all. It smacked of rudeness, disrespect, condescension, impatience, and somewhat juvenile. These are traits of people who believe they are above others, know it all, have all of the answers, and think that theirs is the only way.

      The words “central-planning” should have been tattooed across his forehead. This is the attitude of the liberal elite who truly believe they know more than the rest of us and will use any means possible to maintain the power to control and regulate every segment of our lives. They simply don’t trust individuals and the collective community to make the right decisions. This inherently eliminates competition and free markets, which have provided the true check-and-balance and have been the foundation for our society for over 200 years.

      Freedom of enterprise has been the most efficient and effective way to advance our prosperous society by bringing innovation beyond all comprehension and providing the best goods and services at the lowest prices to the entire population. The corresponding improvement in the overall quality of life for all Americans surpasses anything else in history, while also assisting in the advance of the rest of the world as well.

      Central-planning has been an abysmal failure every place it has been tried because it destroys the importance of the individual. This is the prevailing mentality of the current administration as so vividly seen with Joe Biden and Barack Obama in their debates. If you have any desire for your children and grandchildren to enjoy the incomparable blessings that our generation, as well as previous ones, have enjoyed, this central-planning ideology needs to be stopped now.

      Regards,

      [name redacted]

      1. no matter how wrong he is. See, even rich and/or very successful, and/or very lucky people are often wrong. See little Bush, see Rmoney, see Ryan, P, see Coors, all

      2. Anonymous = meaningless.

        These are the words of the ghost of Milton Friedman. The “free market” is the clarion call of the uber-rich whose mission above all others is to perpetuate their elite positions by screwing anyone who isn’t one of “them”.

        You are fucking fool. Your racial hatred and innate narcissism has led you to be a fawning lap dog to the aristocracy that would throw you to the wolves at the slightest provocation.

        I just got through listening to two of your lying, sack of shit, heros. Whirligig Rmoney just spoke for five minutes and didn’t make a truthful statement during the entire stream of bullshit. And lying Ryan stood there and applauded his lies.

        He was followed by that weasel, Jason Chaffetz, hatchet man for Daryl Issa. He and his boss have been trying to pin something…ANYTHING..on President Obama for four years…they are getting desperate.

        P.J. Crowley, a highly respected former Asst. Secretary of State, backed up Joe Bidens’ assertion about being involved in the denial of more security at the consulate in Benghazi. But Chaffetz is like you. He does his bosses bidding, no matter how how far into mendacity he must sink.

           

      3. …..whatever voters say it is.  If they pass a constitutional amendment to establish a monarchy, then it’s the new American Way.

        There’s a parallel here with Rightie’s propensity to be religious.  Both require a teleological bent that there is absolute truth out there, when there is none, zero.  

        See my sig line.

  6. but this election is going to be won with boots on the ground.  It’s all about GOTV baby and doing like Biden and having the presidents back.

    Obama will learn from his previous debate and be better but it’s up to everyone who believes that we are heading in the right direction to stand and deliver now.  Contact your local OFA team and get involved.

  7. He was pushy, rude and condescending to a polite and focused opponent.

    “A bunch of stuff?” That was so stupid I was falling out of my chair.

    This doesn’t make up for Obama’s epic shellacking last week. Biden is not running for President, and God help us if he ever does.

    1. So, was Romney “polite” when he kept on interrupting and badgering Obama?

      Why couldn’t Ryan honestly answer the questions? I think you’re mistaking “focus” with “sticking to the script, no matter what.”

    4. Almost every Dem here acknowledged that Rmoney topped Obama in that first debate.

      But when the reverse happens, Biden was “Awful.”

      That’s a symptom of tribalism….and immaturity.  

        1. Republican hacks say it was a draw.

          I have seen literally nobody besides you claiming that Ryan won. So yes, you are somewhat out of the mainstream in much the same way a person with his head up his ass has somewhat unusual anatomy.

        3. Paul Ryan is wonderful and anyone who makes him look like a talking point spouting idiot is just mean.  

           

          That mean old Uncle Joe with his foreign policy ‘facts’ and this and that!  Afghanistan?  Who cares about that!  Paul wanted to talk about how great Mitt is and how much he loves you people, and about five point plan, which–apparently–is something other than Mitt’s 53 point plan.  But Joe kept interrupting him with reality with is just AWFUL.  

          Who is John Galt?

  8. That was how I felt: Biden made me feel good again. Now you’re absolutely right: Obama needs to drop the law professor mien and NOT BLOW IT Tuesday night.  

    2. I’d say let Barack be Barack. Professorial with a big wide grin is pretty good. Maybe let his black church tradition show up in his cadence a bit in his closing statement.

      I suspect he’ll be respectful to Romney but firm and corrective. And he’ll be prepared to call out Wallace if necessary, who will try to out-Raddatz Raddatz, but lacks her chops.

      Prediction: Afterwards, the victimhood rightie FoxSnivelers will be whining about Obama’s “arrogant” finger pointing.

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