After watching the vice-presidential debate, I again didn't see the same debate that I followed on twitter last night. But this time I know why, and after changing a few things, I agree with what I read. But my reaction isn't really what I thought it would be before the debate. I really thought that Ryan was enough of a wonk that he would be able to explain his domestic agenda but have trouble with foreign policy. But in fact, except for his answer about Afghanistan, he was able to at least to stay even with Biden. So in foreign policy part of the debate, where I thought Biden would wipe the floor with Ryan, I gave Biden a very small win. But in the domestic areas, Vice-President Biden had a ready response for everything that Ryan threw at him. And I'm sorry, Congressman Ryan, but I really wish you'd get your facts correct. A trimmed-down Department of Defense would have the fewest ships since World War I? Not even close. A Romney/Ryan administration would allow abortions in certain cases? But your own bill (The personhood bill) would make all abortions illegal. You stated that judges shouldn't have a say in abortions, but legislatures should have the final say. But then why do you make anti-abortion a litmus test for all judges? And isn't the judiciary the final say in whether any law is legal or not? If a tax increase on the rich won't balance the budget, and you were right, it won't, then how does another tax decrease balance the budget? And finally, Congressman Ryan, have you ever heard of the separation of Church and States? If so, if you vote to ensure the country follows your religion, haven't you gone much farther over the line than the Obama administration and allowing birth control pills to be on all health care policies? I could go on, but I think it is easy to see why I gave Biden a huge win in the domestic policy section of the debate.
And finally, I thought the moderator did a great job, but I really wasn't all that happy with her questions. Or maybe a better way of saying it is that while last week's 90 minute debate seemed to take 3 hours, this 90 minute debate seemed to fly by. Other than her background in foreign policy, I don't know why she started there. I also wanted her to ask questions about immigration, gun control, voting rights, and gay rights, but none of these were brought up, not in this debate or in the first debate. But I did think she did a great job of moderating, although I know those in the Tea Party will disagree.
And I'm sorry Fox News, the vice-president was not cranky or mean-spirited or anything like that. Yes, he did interrupt Congressman Ryan too much, but I think that in those cases, he just couldn't wait to show out the flaws in the Ryan's proposals. And even I laughed at some of the things that Ryan said, so the Vice-President's laughs didn't bother me. And while I have found some people on MSNBC to take a rather slanted view of the debate, for the most part I found most of the reporting to be very fair to Rep. Ryan.
But in saying that, I do think that Fox News and the Tea Party (GOP) are happy with Ryan's performance in the debate. They will find a few nuggets and sound-bites that will drive their point home to their viewers, but I don't see how any undecided voters would be swayed by what Ryan said. And there were many who will look on Biden in a new and better light. And in doing that, they'll have a more favorable view of the entire Obama administration. And isn't that the entire purpose of any debate?
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