Joe Biden did exactly what you want done in a debate: communicate the message you want to communicate and ignore everything else.
He was personable and fun. He attacked and landed punches with accuracy. Ryan had no response on the 47% which just cut to the bone. You all noticed? NO RESPONSE. Furthermore, he landed some excellent blows on abortion, taxes, and the stimulus bill. He was particularly effective on foreign policy repeatedly tying Ryan up in knots.
But the MOST IMPORTANT THING Biden did tonight was not allow Ryan to run away from his ultra right wing record. He kept Ryan right in the conservative box that Obama let Romney escape from last week. That's exactly how voters are going to see this debate, those who watched it.
Now, is this going to have a material difference in the race? Probably not. Vice Presidential debates almost never do and I don't think this one will be any different. Except in one respect: after the debacle of last week, Democrats now can expect that the President is going to see the effectiveness of not being passive and take the fight to Mitt Romney HARD. On everything. That's what is going to convince those swing voters to come home: a fighter for them.
Congratulations to Joe Biden, Chris Van Hollen, and the Obama Campaign for a victory well deserved.
8:48 PM PT: From the comments:
Short Paul Ryan tonite: (18+ / 0-)
who gets tax cuts? EVERYONE
what about the deficit? GOES DOWN
then what do you plan to cut? NOTHING!
What's your problem with Syria? EVERYTHING
ok, then what would you do differently? NOTHING!
Do you want a war with Iran? YES!
What!? Really? NO
When are we leaving Afghanistan? SOON!
When? EVENTUALLY!
Eventually when? SOON!
What's wrong with the Stimulus? EVERYTHING
Didnt you ask for stimulus money? YES.
On DailyKos nothing is significant unless Obama doesn't do it.
by glutz78 on Thu Oct 11, 2012 at 11:38:33 PM EDT