The Vice Presidential Debate: Who Won in the Battle of Biden vs Ryan?

October 12, 2012 Lucy Britain

Last week, we got the chance to see President Barack Obama and GOP presidential challenger Mitt Romney spar at their first debate in Denver, or so we thought. That was not sparring! That was child’s play compared to what went down in last night’s Vice Presidential debate between Vice President Joe Biden, 69, and Republican challenger Paul Ryan, 42.

Comparing the two debates, Biden blew both Ryan and his partner in crime, Obama, away. Not only was Biden tougher than Ryan, but he acted his role – Vice President of the United States. Looking back at Obama’s performance, he did not display the kind of authority that Americans need and want to see. He appeared aloof and was not in the game. But last night, Biden was on fire! Yes, I was a little taken a back by how much he laughed, but wow, when he was serious, he was on point!

CNN reports, “Biden achieved his goal of bringing the fight to his Republican challenger in battling Ryan to a draw, boosting the spirits of Democrats disheartened by President Barack Obama’s lackluster performance last week in the first of three presidential debates.”

Biden did do very well in the debate, but yes, Ryan did well too. “Ryan made a positive impression with his command of both domestic and foreign policy issues that showed him to be a formidable national candidate after a career of local congressional races in his native Wisconsin,” writes CNN.

Many were shocked by Biden’s performance. Jonathan Chait, a writer for New York Magazine wrote, “In case you missed it, I predicted that Paul Ryan would wipe the floor with Joe Biden. That did not so much happen. Ryan did not perform quite as well as I expected — he seemed greener, younger, and he visibly gulped when challenged. But Biden delivered a revelatory performance that proved me utterly wrong, and probably gave depressed Democrats an emotional jolt in the process.”

Chait also wrote, “Biden’s most effective, and characteristic moment came when he defended the stimulus, swatting aside Ryan’s insinuations of corruption with statistics showing it had been nearly devoid of fraud. He cornered Ryan by citing the two letters he had written asking for stimulus funds for his district, letters which endorsed the argument that stimulus would create jobs. Ryan appeared not to have prepared for the attack at all.”

BAM! There you have it. It was an admirable fight and both sides did well, but in my opinion, Biden was the shower-stopper. What do you think?