Last night I watched the Vice Presidential Debate and watched a very seasonal politician take a young not so seasonal politician to the wood shed.
Yes, I thought Joe Biden won the debate going away. I thought he won the debate on many platforms. I watched him win the debate running away in two different areas. Many will disagree, and have other opinions but to me, the fact of the matter is Joe Biden showed me that if called upon he could step in as President of the United States in a heartbeat, and that is the most important reason for having a VP debate. Paul Ryan scared me in trying to look at him, listen to him and see if he is ready to step into the oval office in a heartbeat which is the way it would be if something would happen to the POTUS. But I will talk about that in a later diary.
With that said, last night Joe Biden showed me that he has and still does have the fire in his mind and soul to continue fighting for the middle class of this country as he has always done throughout his political career. Joe, was Joe and I was actually surprised that he did not take his tie off and really start ranting at some of the talking points and misleading facts Paul Ryan had to put out. He took last night as a personal challenge to both himself and the American middle class and showed that he is the kind of person I want fighting for me as this country moves forward. He showed me that he is every bit up to date and onboard with the President of the United States, which was quite the contrary with Paul Ryan who at times seemed to not even be aware of how Mitt Romney feels on different issues. He took it personally from the right wing media outlets and even some liberal media outlets that had said Joe Biden would not be able to get under the skin of Paul Ryan. Believe me, he did, and he did it with all his laughing and snide comments and gestures made throughout the debate. Joe took it seriously when people were saying that he could not do it, and again, he did it and did it well, and it was time somebody did do it to the Republicans. From the first big smile after the debate began, his smiles and gestures disrupted Paul Ryan in his train of thought and many times during the debate threw him back on his heels.
So Bravo Zulu (BZ) to Joe Biden for accomplishing that and showing that he still has it and still believes in a path forward for this country.
The second and to me the most important attribute of the debate was the end. Candidates where asked two questions. One was asking about the concern of negative campaigning during this Presidential campaign and they were asked about how their religious believes affect them everyday in office.
The first was easy for Joe Biden, he again put out the talking points of the Obama campaign and stated them gracefully as expected from a question like that, then he actually answered the question asked stating that some of the negative activity going on in the campaign was disgraceful on both sides of the campaign. Then went on to finish the answer with he believed it was do to Citizens United and basically the Super Pacs.
Paul Ryan like Joe Biden, gracefully put out the talking points on the Romney campaign and answered the question by doing the usual Republican response, he basically said his campaigns and the Republicans are not doing anything negative and it is the Democrats playing that game. Not wanting to take responsibility for anything, but to blame someone else for it.
Then on the answer about religion, Mr Ryan answered with a heart felt response of his religion is his guiding light, stating that you cannot separate your public life from your private life. Stated that he was Pro Life and gave a wonderful story about his first child to back it up. Pressed more on the answer, Ryan again somewhat looking uncomfortable stated that the position of the Romney/Ryan ticket would be against abortion with the exception of rape/incest and the health of the mother. Although not said, Ryan has said many times in different ways that he does not agree with that, and in a round about way said last night if given the chance, the Romney/Ryan ticket would legislate against abortion all together.
Next. is was Biden time, and boom to me he hit up with the best answer of the whole night, stating that he is 100% behind his religion and beliefs and how it is the staple of his life. He said that he personally believed and supported whole heartedly Pro Life. Then came the but……he said although that is his personal belief, he in no ways believes or would force that personal decision of his upon anybody else in this country. He said that choice was between a women and her doctor and the government has no right to be involved and that he supported the Supreme Court decision on Role v. Wade, and that any judges that needed appointed in the next four years by him and Obama would judges that were open minded.
So that is the choice we are faced with in this election. Do you want Republican candidates who think they deserve to be in your bedroom, who will make laws that force women to do things that they believe is not right for them. Do you want a party that tells us that you have to either do it their way or it will not get done.
Or do you want a party who believes that everybody should have a fair chance in this country to succeed and live a fulfilled happy life, a Democratic Party that is by the people and for the people. A party who does not care what your race, religion, or who you love or who you marry is. A party that believes the government should have control over certain things such as the economy and foreign policy to ensure it is fair to everybody, but also believes that there is some things that are between you and your God, and the government should have no say in it.
Me personally, I like the later party, and last night Joe Biden showed me he is one of the leaders of that party and can continue to make this country go forward.
