The Republican party believes that the contrast between Ryan and Biden during the debates will make voters view Romney as the more serious and focused candidate.
But for Democrats, many view Biden's performance as a way to increase enthusiasm among activists. Also many Americans didn't watch the debate, so it might not have the huge affect that the Romney campaign is hoping for.
What do you think about Biden's attitude during the debate? Did it make Biden look passionate and enthusiastic or did it make him look condescending?
2 comments:
While this VP debate is arguably less important than the presidential debates, the volatile nature of the current elections makes every candidate appearance critical, if sometimes overhyped. I believe that Biden's aggressive tactics against Ryan could rub Independents the wrong way. As stated in Proverbs 29:9: "If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet." Such a reaction from Independents would not help the Democrats. However, I feel that his passionate performance was necessary after President Obama's lackluster showing against Romney in the first debate. He definitely came off as more energetic than Ryan, attacking the Republican VP candidate with vigorous laughter.
Biden came into this debate as the underdog. Ryan was build up by the media as a "policy nerd" who had the edge against the VP. However, Biden successfully prevented a Ryan sweep in the debate. While it is debatable, based on conflicting polls, whether Biden won or tied against Ryan, his strong stance will probably slow down the Republican momentum that was built up after the first debate.
In the end, the Republicans will no doubt say that Biden was an overly aggressive loud-mouth and the Democrats will say that Ryan was a over-hyped simpleton. It will up to the Independents to decipher Biden's laughter and aggressiveness and determine their votes. This race is still close. Biden is laughing now, but Ryan could still get the last laugh.
I agree with Kevin in that the VP debates tend to not be as notably popular among American viewers, but I also feel that Biden's lively performance shows that he is passionate about his job and his running-mate. Obama will need every chance to pull ahead in the race, especially considering a lot of the foreign policy issues that have come up recently, so Biden's active approach to the debate will help more than hurt the Democratic campaign in my opinion.
As opposed to just criticizing these two candidates' performances, I think it's important to see what they did well. Biden did a good job of really prompting/stating what has changed since Obama's presidency began, and he always stayed true to his opinions. Ryan did a decent job of throwing out a lot of facts on the status quo (these still need a little bit of checking) and tried to tell a few stories on what kind of man Mitt Romney "really is." That being said however, I feel that there was still a bit too much bashing of one anothers' platforms, and their insights on how to change/instate policies was sometimes lost amongst their harsh words. I'm not sure I quite feel comfortable with either of the two men possibly being called in to lead the country in a time of crises and chaos...
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