Posted on 10/13/2012 5:20:09 PM PDT by Sark
Disrespectful. Snide. Hostile. Arrogant. Disdainful. Contemptuous. Patronizing. Rude. Childish. Condescending. Derisive. Smug. Imperious. Scornful. Immature. Unhinged.
Pundits are using all of these words (and more!) to describe Vice President Joe Biden's Thursday night debate performance. In fact, I've used several of them myself. As Fox News anchor Chris Wallace put it, "I don't believe I've ever seen a debate in which one participant was as openly disrespectful of the other as Biden was to Paul Ryan tonight." It was bizarre, unexpected, and memorable. And I don't fully understand why the Vice President did it.
I've spent the last few minutes trying to decide what words might overstate Joe Biden's behavior toward Congressman Paul Ryan. It was a struggle, but I finally came up with one that would be an exaggeration: "violent." The Vice President never laid a hand on Congressman Ryan. At several points, I wasn't so sure that he wouldn't.
Why did Biden act in such a hyper-aggressive manner? Why the constant interruptions, why the forced laughter? I've heard several theories, and the most convincing suggests that the Obama campaign doesn't care what conflict-averse undecided voters think of Biden. After President Obama's dull, lethargic debate performance last week, all his staff cared about was energizing the base in order to boost Election Day turnout.
That's sensible in a ruthlessly pragmatic way, but we're still weeks away from voting. Indeed, there are two (more important) presidential debates left. There's plenty of time for another game-changing event, possibly several. The short-term gains of stoking Democratic enthusiasm could very well be outweighed by the long-term alienation of independent voters by Biden's mean-spirited attitude. Perhaps I'm wrong, but this strategy seems painfully short-sighted.
Here's the thing: Vice President Biden didn't need to be a jerk on national television. He was well-prepared and well-armed with his talking points. Although I disagree with most of his principles and policy prescriptions, he did a fine job of making the Democratic case when it came to substance. He's capable of being funny, personable, and warm. Why did he go off the deep end when it wasn't even necessary?
Don't get me wrong, I don't think that he would've necessarily won the debate with a different stylistic approach. Congressman Paul Ryan did a solid, if uninspired job, and he didn't make any major (or even minor) gaffes. In a vice presidential debate, that's pretty much all that matters when you have the momentum on your side going in.
I know that many of my fellow conservatives expected the wonky Congressman to crush the gaffe-prone Vice President, but that was never a likely scenario. Debating is Biden's strong point, and he's more than capable of connecting with voters through emotional appeals. Congressman Ryan, meanwhile, had never debated at anywhere close to that level, and his policy expertise made him vulnerable to "getting into the weeds" on the details.
Some ask if it's fair to criticize Joe Biden in light of Mitt Romney's aggressive style in the first presidential debate. While I see where this claim of hypocrisy is coming from, I definitely don't consider the two performances comparable. Biden interrupted Ryan 82 times in barely 40 minutes of speaking. That's ridiculous.
But what about Romney? According to this liberal blogger, Romney interrupted President Obama and moderator Jim Lehrer a total of 12 times during the 90 minute debate. If you extrapolate Biden's interruption total over that same time span, that would be about 185 interruptions. Sure, Romney probably overdid it a little in his debate, but how can you possibly consider the two performances similar? Biden was basically out-of-control for most of the debate, outside of a relatively calm beginning and finale.
What did the liberal blogger have to say about Romney's twelve meager interruptions?
"Amid the liberal hand-wringing about Obama's alleged 'loss' in the debate, and the conservative chest-pounding about Romney's alleged 'win,' and all the noisy fact-checking on Romney's lies, almost nobody has mentioned something that I personally found very chilling on Wednesday night. It was Romney's brazen demonstration of contempt for parliamentary procedure - for the 'other person's right to speak' that is fundamental to our democratic process."But wait, there's more. Keeping in mind the enormous gap between Romney and Biden's total number of interruptions, take a look at the supposed ramifications of Mitt's debate performance:
"Why does Romney interrupt? He represents a segment of American society who say openly that they don't believe in democracy. They believe that their God is above human rules, and that God makes their political opinions 'right.' So they see themselves as being above society, and not answerable to it. They don't feel that they have to show respect for the opinions of others. Hence (for example) the heckling and raucous interrupting that Tea Partiers do at countless town halls across the country for the last couple of years.(Fun fact: She hasn't written about the vice presidential debate yet. I wonder why?)...We're losing our grip on the ability to have 'civil discourse.'
...To me, the spectacle was appalling. It shows me how far down the slippery slope of social and political decay our country has slid, with less and less possibility of an orderly procedure to analyze and solve our problems."
For better or worse, the only thing that voters will remember about this debate is Joe Biden. If he came across as forceful and passionate, then you'll probably feel that he won the debate hands-down. If he came across as a haughty jerk, then you might automatically give the debate to Congressman Ryan on style points. If you simply read the transcript or somehow managed to ignore Biden's attitude (likely impossible), you would probably consider the debate a draw, as the media has declared.
Personally, I'm calling the vice presidential debate in favor of Congressman Paul Ryan. The substance was a draw in the eyes of the undecided voter, but I can't get over Vice President Joe Biden's unnecessarily obnoxious style. Good grief.
The drunken uncle lived up to his billing. He made a clown out of himself. If the ‘RATS call him their “winner”, its going to be painful to watch their loser again on Tuesday night.
Good analysis. Good piece.
Knowing that he had to say that HUGE lie at the start may have unhinged him the rest of the debate. Maybe it was just TOO big and TOO obvious even for a lifetime politician to feel comfortable with. Plus the fear of retaliation from the Clintons at some later point - that would be terrifying and make someone want to nervously giggle for an hour and a half.
Either Biden was trying to goad Ryan into losing it, or he used all means necessary to silence Ryan’s message and voice. Who has everyone been talking about ever since?
During the split screen, when Ryan was responding, Joe wasn’t even paying attention but was intently watching the moderator, trying to catch her eye so she would call on him and allow him to speak. The only thing missing was a wildly waving raised hand, punctuated by ‘ooh ooh ooh’.
It was so much like this boy in my fourth grade class who was in the remedial classes most of the day but was allowed to be with the ‘typical children’ for a few subjects. He wa always talking out of turn, interrupting everyone and his statements were always more important that anyone else’s. He never even bothered to listen to anyone else when they were talking. And, yes, his sentences were filled with grimacing, maniacal laughing, eye rolling and complete dialogues with no one in particular.
Is Joe autistic?
That’s him. LOL!
And there - in a nutshell, you have the answer to the question that Conservatives constantly pose (i.e. "Why do Liberals think this way and support the unsupportable?")
The answer is: Hatred of God Über Alles.
The Democrats have the atheist vote locked up. Hatred of the Almighty, and their twisted belief that humanism makes them their own gods trumps logic, reason, morality, facts, and reality.
I was reminded of a chilling scene in “Perelandra” by CS Lewis. The hero “Ransom” wa in an all night debate with “the un-man”.
The Un-man resorted to completely pedantic tactics”
“Ransom? Ransom? Ransom?”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
And on and on and on. Evil lays the ground rules and breaks them with impunity when they know the adversary on the side of Good will never resort to the dame tactic.
It is an amazing scene in an amazing book.
This time he made up facts, laughed inappropriately (In the extreme!), and only spewed discredited talking points, and still all the writers say it was a draw. What would he have to do to lose a debate? Stab his opponent?
Something is weird here.
Too many brain surgeries, too much liquor.
We are not weeks away from voting. Early voting has begun in many states,
I'll give you one... just one... guess.
bump
23 days till this doddering old fool - and his Muslim appeasing partner - are voted out...and 99 days until they’re thrown out.
Hmmm - I remember one of Mitt's "interruptions"; Obama started muttering something while Mitt was talking and Mitt looked right at him and finished his statement.
Liberals like Obozo/Biden,Pelosi, Reid and their mediots suffer from Illusory Superiority Response syndrome.
The response of the left to Biden’s rude behavior on the nationally televised debate is/was predictable. They loved it and insanely believe the rest of us loved Biden’s insanity, arrogance, and rude behavior.
With over 70 years of life and at least 60 of those years watching liberals lie and feel superior. Decades ago, I came to the conclusion, that they are all mentally unstable and there is no cure for them.
They all suffer from Illusory Superiority Responses. Often this cognitive bias increases with years of faux education and their illusory social status in their increasing unstable/immature minds.
Illusory Superiority Response is a cognitive bias that causes people to overestimate their positive qualities and abilities and to underestimate their negative qualities, relative to others. This makes them under estimate real winners like Ronald Reagan.
So they label anyone, who dares to challenge their insane/rude Illusory Superiority Responses, as red necked, stupid, knuckle draggers rather than listen to what we have learned over the years, decades and centuries from history.
With the instant reality, we now have with the internet, Fox and social nets, the left wing mediots are losing their ability to lie, cover, and omit their beloved Obama’s/Biden’s mentally unstable responses.
The rabid/mentally unstable hard core liberals love the Illusory Superiority responses of Obama/Biden/Pelosi/Reed and others.
However, the instant and nationwide exposed insanity of their Illusory Superiority responses is killing them with the independent voters.
Vice President Joe Biden’s behavior during the Veep debate proved one thing: Team Obama has given up trying to win over independent voters and is betting it all on their base. Mr. Biden’s laughter, dismissive comments and smirks whenever Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) spoke was obviously an effort to placate those who react the same way when someone dares to point out President Obama’s failures and offers alternatives.
In the first place, it would be hard to make a serious case for the stste of the economy and the failures of the Obama administration. That said, I think the other side, at least the people who write the lefty news, expected Biden to come out, be tough, act like a serious statesman, and make their awful case plausible.
Many were shocked, including Brokaw, and remarks on Twitter by others, that Biden made himself a total clown. His behavior didn’t advance anything, but made them look bad to the people who watched. It was only half of 2008. That in itself, bodes bad for them considering the lefty MSM isn’t showing all the giant crowds this time supporting Dear Leader. Biden may have been talked about after the debate, but it was not in a good way except to far leftie goofballs.
Truth is, it didn’t do much for Ryan either, but it also did nothing to hurt him.
That means it was a win for Ryan and a lose for Obama.
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