Biden Smash.
Here’s how it went: Biden Smash. Ryan Parry, Dodge, Shrug. Biden Shakes Head, Grins. Biden Calls Out Ryan.
Missed the debate? Click here for the complete video.
If you’re a Democrat, tonight felt good—like seeing your favorite baseball team learn from a tough first outing, and come back swinging. Either way, it was a real debate—well moderated, with plenty of real exchanges from both sides.
Here’s my Top 10 Moments…but first, quotes!
A few favorite zingers via Biden:
“Facts matter.”
“Governor Romney agrees, if I’m not mistaken. I could be mistaken, he changes his mind so often.”
“47%.”
“The last thing America needs is to get into another ground war in the Middle East.”
“Oh, now you’re Jack Kennedy?”“I heard the same from Palin.”
“If you notice, he never answers the question.”
“I wish you would just tell the tru… speak with candor!”
“I refuse to impose [my personal religious beliefs] on other people.”
Biden makes the point that the 47% included the soldier.
“I love my friend here. I’m not allowed to show letters here, but go on our website. He sent me two letters saying, by the way, can you send me some stimulus money for companies here in the state of Wisconsin?”
“We grow this country from the middle-out, not top-down.”
Favorite Ryan quotes:
“Democrats aren’t used to bipartisan deals.”
Moderator: “What do you think you’ll give this country, as a man..?”
Ryan: “Honesty.”
1. Biden, following Obama’s patient, passive but articulate first debate performance against an aggressive, underdog Mitt Romney as John Wayne, called out every falsehood, lie, fib, obfuscation, untruth and other…well, as VP Biden put it directly to Rep Ryan, “that’s some stuff.” He hit hard and fast, particularly in the first thirty minutes.
As Bill Maher’s tweet put it,
Call 911, there’s an old man beating a young dark haired man on my TV.
2. Then, he slowed down and got serious. The religion and abortion sections were riveting. Biden nailed Ryan to the “GOP will with two additional Supreme Court justices overturn Roe v. Wade” wall, as well as tying Ryan to “no exceptions even in cases of rape or incest” in Ryan’s near past (cough: Akin). So glad he called out Grover Norquist and the pledge.
3. Ryan’s closing remark came straight out of the can—as if, someone sitting near me said, he’d practiced it in front of his bedroom mirror a dozen times.
4. ‘Oh, Now You’re Jack Kennedy?’ – Motherf*cking Joe Biden
5. Via Ryan (and Romney), a lot of continued avoidance of specifics, but plenty of 20/20 hindsight. Asked what he would do in Syria differently, he straight out said “here’s what we would do”…and then went on and on and on about what they wouldn’t do.
6. Strong moderator. Jolly good show, Martha Raddatz.
7. Via Reddit, a bunch of comments:
“Biden did exactly what he needed. Obama was bashed for being soft and timid. Biden was neither, straight to the point, aggressive counterpoints for everything Ryan said.”
“Interruptions are necessary when lies are being told.”
“Canadian here, but why is it that Republicans praise Mitt Romney for being very aggressive but complain about Biden’s “bizarre rudeness”? This double standard sickens me.”
“Biden’s been grinning the whole debate.”
“Biden kicked ass. And I say that as a Republican.”
“Well Fox news is pissed off so I take it Biden won.”
Good Guy Biden:“[Biden’s] laughing and other body language stuff was just his nonverbal way of saying “Can you believe the [stuff] [Ryan] is spewing?” to the audience. Whether it is perceived as a weakness or not I suppose depends on who you ask…”
“…He can address the facts when it’s his turn to speak, so the laughter is just a way of attacking Ryan’s statements while he’s giving them.”
8. Conclusion: Romney clearly won the first debate based on looks, and vigor, if not facts or consistency. Biden won this debate on both assertiveness and fact checks. He was aggressive, smiled, passionate, full of stats and specifics, no gaffes, challenged Ryan on lies and seemed at ease. Great performance. Ryan was calm, lacking in specifics and substance, strong in abstractions, a bit Munsterish and creepy-eyed, robotic, smug. Ryan did dominate the anecdote department.
For those with bias, their candidate won. For those with bias and perspective, this is what the Dems needed going into the second presidential debate.
9. In-depth conclusion: F*ck yeah.
10. Wolf Blitzer is a clown.
Related bonus:
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