This evening the Nation had its first and only opportunity to see Vice President Joe Biden go head to head with Congressman Paul Ryan. This event was certainly a departure from last week's Presidential debate. Many individuals, myself included, felt Governor Romney took full advantage of the opportunity afforded the challenger in these debates and walked away a "winner". Tonight was different. Vice President Biden didn't allow Paul Ryan to play the cards Governor Romney did. Basically, the incumbent candidate did not spend the entire evening defending four years of public record while the challenger sold a platform of cherry picked policy positions that poll well with the public, carefully selected from legislation passed during the last four years. This game plan worked very well for Romney last week. He was successful at keeping President Obama on the defensive while he presented a revised policy platform that benefited from the flexibility afforded the challenger. This flexibility included an adoption of the positions most popular with the electorate as "part of my plan" with no additional details. Brilliant! We learned Romney now supports everything the majority of Americans like, is against the things that happened in the last four years that America didn't like, and the rest of the details - well that can wait. You'll find that out once Romney becomes President.
Tonight was different. Every time Ryan tried to run last week's game plan, Biden ran his defense and went immediately onto the offense. Ryan was challenged by both the moderator - who was exceptional I may add - and by Biden's commitment to doubling down on the facts. Every vague policy statement from Congressman Ryan was tempered by the challenge to present details. Congressman Ryan was big on the usual platitudes - American values, peace through strength, and a commitment to prosperity for all. Ryan and Romney constantly describe the America they want to create, but provide little to no detail on how we are going to get there. The reality is, the domestic conditions that we currently face in this country will not change on day one, week one, or month one of a new administration. Without providing the details of "the plan" it's nice of Romney and Ryan to provide their aspirations but that's not a public policy platform - it's a description of an objective without a strategy to get there.
So, yeah - Biden evened the score this evening. We'll wait to see what happens next week when the Presidential candidates debate foreign policy. Based on Romney's failed attempts this summer to demonstrate competency on the international stage, I'm pretty confident we'll see what true leadership looks like.
Tonight was different. Every time Ryan tried to run last week's game plan, Biden ran his defense and went immediately onto the offense. Ryan was challenged by both the moderator - who was exceptional I may add - and by Biden's commitment to doubling down on the facts. Every vague policy statement from Congressman Ryan was tempered by the challenge to present details. Congressman Ryan was big on the usual platitudes - American values, peace through strength, and a commitment to prosperity for all. Ryan and Romney constantly describe the America they want to create, but provide little to no detail on how we are going to get there. The reality is, the domestic conditions that we currently face in this country will not change on day one, week one, or month one of a new administration. Without providing the details of "the plan" it's nice of Romney and Ryan to provide their aspirations but that's not a public policy platform - it's a description of an objective without a strategy to get there.
I'm hoping next week to hear why Obama has attended less than half of the daily intelligence briefings. Must be Bush's fault... I do agree that Biden won the debate. Ryan let too many opportunities slip through the cracks. Should have pushed Biden harder on Libya. Biden did a good job of interrupting when Ryan was talking and then Ryan would not finish the point he was about to make. Like when he was trying to explain how when JFK and Reagan lowered taxes the tax revenue to the treasury soared. Grow the economy, employ more people and they pay taxes! And they get off the gov't dole. He never finished the thought though.
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