Pressure is on Biden after Obama's lackluster debate performance

Reuters ^ | Sun Oct 7, 2012 | John Whitesides

[granada]

(Reuters) - He has been stereotyped as the Obama administration's gaffe-prone sideshow.

But Vice President Joe Biden also is a veteran debater who was in the U.S. Senate for a quarter century and is perhaps the Democratic White House's most passionate defender of the working class.

Now, with his debate against Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan coming up on Thursday, Biden is under pressure to help President Barack Obama's campaign recapture the momentum it enjoyed before Obama was outmaneuvered by Republican rival Mitt Romney last week in the first of their three debates.

That debate trimmed Obama's lead in the polls and raised the stakes for the lone vice presidential debate, which also will be a national debut of sorts for Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman and budget specialist.

With the Romney-Ryan campaign energized, Democrats are in the surprising position of relying on Biden, a perpetual political wild card, to fire up their campaign. Democrats did get a boost in Friday's jobs report, which showed the nation's unemployment rate dipped below 8 percent last month for the first time since January 2009, the month Obama took office.

"This is not about changing minds. This is about changing the momentum," Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis said. "The vice president is going to have to be very aggressive in undercutting Republican arguments. He can't allow Ryan to control the debate the way Romney controlled his debate."

[mikeus_maximus]

Ryan better come out swinging too. Biden is studying up on what he does best: epithets and insults and scare tactics and class warfare. That’s the only weapon of intellectually bankrupt liberalism when it runs headlong into conservative principles of freedom and properity and limited government interference.

[Caipirabob]

Ryan should shake Biden up right at the beginning and throw him off his game.

I would recommend that Ryan brings any staff member named "Chuck" and introduce him as a special guest he's pleased to have in the audience, and then ask for him to "Stand up, Chuck...Oh God love you..."

Biden may or may not catch on, but if he does, Ryan's under his skin right from the start.

[not2worry]

Let Ryan be Ryan and present the change America needs-not get into a lot psycho babble with Biden. Stick to what our Country needs not the hyper-pole the Obama administration has been feeding us for the last 4 years. We need a balanced budget - deficit reduction and jobs!!! Skip the sizzle and give us the steak- we are hungry for change.

[Vinnie]

Biden may be full of sh__, but he has a way of presenting himself as knowledgeable.

Don’t sell him short.

OTOH he tops my all time favorite gaffe list.

‘Stand up Chuck, awww, everyone stand up for Chuck’

[A'elian' nation]

“our guy is smarter than their guy.”

Our guy is smarter than their guy. Totally smarter - that’s a given, but it won’t win the dumb vote.

What Ryan needs to do is simply debate bare-chested - abs pecs and all. He could recite nursery rhymes and win it.

Where are the stories of women fainting at the Ryan rallies like we get when Obama opens his mouth? Where are the Ryan is Kennedyesque stories? >sarc<

[PoloSec]

Ryan should incorporate bidens gaffes into each response, keeping biden on the defensive.