Drunkblogging the 2012 Vice Presidential Debate
5:45PM Before we get started, I’d like to share with you a little something I tell myself before each of these drunkblogs. It’s sort of a secular prayer, if you will, and it goes like this:
Crap.
5:49PM We seriously beefed up our servers after we crashed them multiple times four years ago. In a strange way, it makes me feel the love. A few weeks ago, we even got a new gigabit switch, and I’m going to pretend I know what that is. But it certainly sounds quite impressive. Then last week, during the Denver debate, we managed to crash the servers again, you and me.
My hat’s off to you for that. Thanks. I mean that. Feeling the love, still.
I understand we’ve taken even further safeguards against another server crash again tonight — but I have faith in you.
5:50PM I’m tuned into C-SPAN tonight, but given that I hardly slept last night and am on the verge on passing out already, that might have been a mistake.
5:51PM What was Jill Biden doing in a White House briefing?
Oh, right — she’s the brains of the family.
5:53PM As I’m fond of reminding people, I don’t play drinking games; I drink. But if you’re of a mind, drink every time Biden mentions his mother or “my friend, Barack.”
5:54PM Nevermind. That wasn’t Jill Biden, that was the moderator. There’s so much inbreeding amongst the Complicit Media and high-level Democrats that it’s difficult to tell the difference.
5:56PM For the record, I have never been invited to weddings of any of the figures on tonight’s stage. I decline to answer if I have crashed any of them.
5:58PM Looking around this audience tonight, all I can say is that I miss the Gore girls circa 2000.
5:59PM Or the Huntsman girls as recently as last fall.
6:00PM I will not lose this drunkblog by being too polite.
6:01PM Here we go…
6:02PM Martha Raddatz should fully disclose what the Obama’s bought her as a wedding gift.
6:03PM “I would like to begin with Libya.”
Exccccccccellent.
6:04PM Oh, BS! “Wasn’t this a massive intelligence failure, Mr. Biden?”
NO! Raddatz opened the whole damn debate by swallowing the State Department line. There was no intelligence failure. They knew. They failed to act.
Damn you, Martha Raddatz, and that lovely gravy boat the Obamas gave you 22 years ago.
6:05PM This is gonna be a long night.
6:06PM Ryan need to hit Raddatz, Gingrich style. Instead he’s hitting Biden. He’s OK, but he missed the narrative. “OK” won’t cut it with Raddatz and her fat thumb on the scale.
6:07PM Ryan, why are you talking about Iraq?
6:08PM “It’s never too early to speak out for our values.”
Biden flashes that smile of his, which is nearly as genuine as his hairline.
6:09PM “With all due respect that’s a bunch of malarky.”
Biden, interrupting, and the king of malarky.
6:09PM “I don’t understand what my friend’s talking about.”
This is Biden’s secret sauce, and it makes me thankful this is only the Veep debate.
6:11PM “We weren’t told they wanted more security” in Benghazi.
Joe Biden, stomping over four American corpses.
6:11PM Ryan is going to let that stand?
6:12PM Koran burning? Thank you, Martha Raddatz, for bringing this debate into 2005.
6:12PM “There were requests for extra security, those requests were not followed.”
6:13PM Thank you, Martha, for interrupting Ryan during his answer. I bet that’s worth a silver setting right there.
6:14PM Ryan is better on Iran, but when he mentions Russian obstruction, he ought to mention the Reset button.
6:15PM Ryan is bringing his inner wonk. That’s a strength against Biden’s ability to smoothly deliver the worst bromides.
6:15PM Biden: REPUBLICANS CAN’T NEGOTIATE!
Or something. War?
6:16PM Biden just name-dropped his security clearance: TOP WAZZZZZUP.
6:17PM Ryan needs to hit Biden on his insider-y-ness.
6:17PM Biden’s smile is getting creepy.
6:19PM After a shaky start by Ryan, I’m wondering if Joe might be losing some cool.
6:19PM Biden says Iran sees the world as “totally united” against them. Totally, literally. Except for Russia and China and sometimes India and big parts of Iraq.
6:20PM Iran is “totally isolated.”
Uh-huh.
6:21PM What’s the difference between “four years closer to a nuclear weapon” and “four years closer to fissile material?”
6:22PM Something just clicked in Biden’s head. It was something from debate camp where they told him to “stop smiling like an asshole.”
6:22PM “We can’t live with that.” – Ryan, regarding a nuclear Iran.
6:23PM Biden is defending the sanctions. You know the ones no one is against and the ones everyone knows won’t work.
6:23PM Unemployment fell below 8 percent for the first time in four years? Joe Biden, you didn’t build that.
6:25PM “These people are… my neighbors.”
Really, Joe? “These people” live near a golf course or the Naval Observatory?
6:26PM Oops. $5,000,000,000,000 became $500,000,000. I think Joe flubbed his line on tax cuts for the rich.
6:27PM Bring out the wonk! Ryan’s good talking numbers on the economy. More like this, please.
6:28PM Ryan is telling a great Romney story that Romney won’t tell himself. Biden is trying not to look totally bummed by another human being’s intrinsic generosity.
6:29PM “Sometimes the words don’t come out of your mouth the right way.” Ryan looked at Biden when he said that, and got the first laugh of the night.
6:29PM Biden trumped with the Dead Wife Card.
6:30PM For. The. Last. Time. GM DID GO BANKRUPT. That’s what Chapter 11 is. Even a phony-baloney, screw the bondholders, enrich the UAW Chapter 11 like Obama put GM through.
GM. Did. Go. Bankrupt.
6:31PM “Look at where we are right now.”
Hammer that line home, Ryan.
6:32PM “The Vice President was in charge of overseeing” the stimulus.
6:32PM “I love my friend here.”
Again, that’s Biden’s strong suit. He’s done this for 40 years. and he’s damn good at it.
6:34PM “Was it a good idea to spend taxpayer money on electric cars in Finland?”
YES! Um… yes?
6:35PM I’m waiting for Biden’s Lloyd Benson moment, because one of those would go a long way towards reversing Romney’s post-debate momentum.
That’s what Biden needs to do for win. Ryan just needs to be competent.
I’m seeing the latter. Have you seen the former?
(Knock on wood.)
6:37PM Ryan is so good on Medicare, he explains why Romney is up with seniors, all on his own.
6:37PM To paraphrase Kevin Smith, AARP is gonna sue somebody.
6:38PM “Follow your instincts.”
That’s kinda the whole Dem appeal, isn’t it?
6:39PM “Mr Vice President, I know you’r under a lot of duress to make up for lost ground… ”
Thank you, Paul Ryan.
6:41PM Biden’s new Secret Service codename: Interruptus.
6:41PM Biden’s new Secret Service codename: Interruptus.
6:41PM Biden: “I was there… in 1983.”
Operational error there.
6:42PM Biden’s inner long-term Senator is coming out. That’s not a good thing.
6:43PM Ryan is quoting numbers. Biden is begging Raddatz for an out. You make the call.
Math is hard.
6:45PM Biden on taxes: The rich will pay “slightly” more.
He keeps using that word. I do not think it means what he thinks it means.
6:46PM “Let’s have a vote.”
There’s one coming on November 6, Mr. Biden. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.
6:48PM “There aren’t enough rich people and small businesses to tax to pay for all their spending.”
Line of the night.
6:49PM Biden has that look on his face, like he’s trying to remember the third or maybe fourth digit of pi.
6:50PM When Biden is in his comfort zone, he’s every bit as good as I remember him. When he’s not? He’s a jackass with a jack-o-lantern smile.
6:53PM “Now you’re Jack Kennedy!”
Joe Biden? I knew Lloyd Benson. Lloyd Benson was a friend of mine. And, you Mr. Vice President, are no Lloyd Benson.
6:54PM Oh. Now it’s $800,000,000,000 that the rich need to pay. Pick a numer, Joey, and stick to it.
6:56PM It’s really getting testy now.
6:57PM Um… Mr Biden? Who is calling to resume M1 tank production? Straw man much?
6:57PM Um… Mr Biden? Who is calling to resume M1 tank production? Straw man much?
6:57PM Um… Mr Biden? Who is calling to resume M1 tank production? Straw man much?
6:58PM Raddatz: “We’ve degraded al Qaeda.” Tell that to the Benghazi consulate, unless you’re really angling for those sterling silver candlesticks.
7:00PM Biden is making an excellent case for pulling out of Afghanistan, and a crappy case for the surge never should have authorized.
7:01PM Ryan telling the story of one of his best friends fighting in Afghanistan. It’s a good story. It’s a good argument. But nobody can explain why we’re still there.
7:03PM Getting testy again, Joe. He’s trying to run roughshod like he did against Palin, but Ryan is just too reality-based to make it work.
7:04PM Huh. Timelines are how you make the enemy fear you. Who knew?
7:05PM It’s hard to gauge just how well Ryan is doing, because this isn’t a Sherman’s March like Romney enjoyed last week. But there is not one person watching Biden tonight and getting all excited about four more years of this guy.
7:07PM Joe Biden: One Afghan soldier = One US Marine.
I beg to differ.
7:08PM “Afghans to do the job, Afghans to do the job.”
Just annoying as all hell.
7:10PM For the record, I was against our lead-from-the-ass Libya semi-intervention. That said, there is a better (but still not good) argument for a Syria intervention. It’s just not possible to argue against the latter while being for the former. I’m against either, but Obama-Biden is, as always, bass-ackwards.
7:11PM Nice turn to our Russia “reset” by Ryan.
7:13PM My best guess is, Biden is trying to play the grownup. I don’t think it’s working.
7:14PM “We should not have waited for Russia to give us the green light.”
Pshaw, such Cold War era thinking, Mr. Ryan. We’re all one big happy reset global family now.
7:15PM Question: Just how Catholic are you, re: Abortion.
7:16PM I’m moderately pro-choice. And let me tell you, I have never heard anyone put the pro-life case better than Paul Ryan is doing right now.
7:17PM That giant sucking sound you hear is millions of Reagan (Catholic) Democrats sighing with relief.
7:19PM Biden is flat-out lying about the contraception mandate. Big fat hair lie.
7:19PM Er, hairy.
7:21PM BORK! Drink.
Biden should age himself by mentioning a Supreme Court battle from the year I graduated high school.
7:21PM Closing question…
7:23PM Joe Biden has never been embarrassed by anything, as evidenced by, well, everything from his “hair” on down.
7:24PM Will Biden interrupt Ryan’s closing remark? He’s trying SO HARD not to.
7:25PM Will Biden interrupt Ryan’s closing remark? He’s trying SO HARD not to.
7:26PM Ryan is at his wonky best on this last question.
7:28PM Biden is seething. Ryan is wonking, if I may use a neologism.
It’s not a knockout, but it is a win.
7:30PM Biden is seething. Ryan is wonking, if I may use a neologism.
It’s not a knockout, but it is a win.
7:35PM Closing comments were about what you’d expect, so I have to stand by my gut call above. Biden needed to reverse things for Obama, and he wasn’t up to the task. Ryan needed to not screw up Romney’s momentum, and he did just that.
Also, jeeze, who knew Biden could be almost as petulant as his boss? That’s my takeaway. What’s yours?
So, you and Biden have something in common…
A three letter word.
I am trying to think of a two-word letter, I mean a Latin expression that means in English: a wiseaxx, killer answer from the staircase on the way out.
Twice, I say TWICE, during the debate Biden said, with all the feigned sincerity and poignancy a life-long career of telling lies could muster: “I always mean what I say.”
Fred, from the staircase putting on his great coat like a Karamazov,: “Oh yeah? You always mean what you say? Then you must have meant it when you said about a week ago that the middle-class has been buried over the last FOUR YEARS. Have a very good night, Joe. (I love that guy.)”
Crap indeed sir!
Get the gremlins to flog the hamsters harder tonight so we can enjoy your inebriated eloquence throughout the debate.
Going big. Glenmorangie 10 year old single malt.
Kicking back with a homebrewed beer, ready to read drunkblogging. Am I watching? Heck no. I’l let Steve be bored, and just get the good parts.
Think of gigabit as gigawatt. “One point twenty-one gigawatts?! Ben, how am I going to generate that kind of power?”
Ryan (regarding tonight’s debate): “When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you’re gonna see some serious sh*t!”
So what’s in the glass tonight?
I’m going with bourbon on the rocks.
And why am I getting a “posting to quickly” message?
Limoncello again
Somebody asked me about a recipe during the last debate, here it is:
You need like 12 lemons (those yellow ones) but you only use the most external peel, the rind, no white from the peel, only the yellow. Therefore, clean very well the lemons to remove any pesticide, dirty, wax, etc.
* Put the rinds in a glass bottle with 1 lt of alcohol 95% (edible one), close and let it sit for 10 days in a dark place.
* At the end of the 10 days, prepare a sugar syrup by boiling 1 lt water with 800 grams (i.e. 1,75 lbs) sugar. Let it cool to room temperature.
* filter the rinds out of the alcohol. Add the syrup to the alcohol. Mix and let it sit again for 10 days.
* After that, filter again the liquor and it’s ready.
The best way to enjoy it is to drink it very cold.
Limoncello- zest. That’s what the yellow is. Not rind. Rind is white. Yellow is zest. On an orange, the orange is zest.
Thank you, I did’t know hot to translate it from the book I got it
I think I may have figured it out. When I click post, if I double-click, or even come close to doing so, it gives me that message. If I make sure I click a bit more slowly and cleanly, I do not get that message, anymore.
No fair
If you are drunk blogging, you will be one of the only few who might understand Biden… I mean… he’s probably going to drunk debate…
right?
“There’s so much inbreeding amongst the Complicit Media and high-level Democrats that it’s difficult to tell the difference.”
Steve, after that comment I am drinking maximum-strength brain bleach for the rest of the evening.
Cheap bourbon n branch, baby! As is my custom. Doing c-span’s webfeed in another tab.
Watching ABCnews livestream punditry “Paul Ryan has to convince the voters he is qualified to be a heart-beat away from being President”. As if Biden being VP wasn’t enough?
Ouch!
Oh good, Libya right off the bat.
I’ll say this for her, she hits the ground running.
sorry, I don’t like the moderator… but WOW…
she’s jumping right into the Libya fray?
ok, let’s see how she goes
Thats to get the ‘heartburn’ subjects out of the way. The further you are from bad news the least likely you are to remember it.
Good tactic on Raddatz’s part.
I’m a newbie to contributing to the drunkblog tonight, but I have viewed in the past. I’ve selected a 750ml bottle of excellent vintage zinfandel and will move on to cheaper stuff if warranted. What are the drinking phrases tonight?
I think Biden is passing secret messages with all that blinking.
No. It was NOT a massive intelligence failure. It was a MASSIVE political f*** up.
Radditz comes right out of the box supporting Obama/Biden.
How many here believe Biden was NOT given the questions beforehand?
That said, I’m glad we’re kicking off with Libya. The Obama camp WAS trying to intimidate Ryan into not bringing it up.
Biden brings up killing Obama within 2 minutes. New world record!
Joe, stop smiling. You look like a douche.
proof Biden is wee bit drunk debating??
Joe, keep on smiling. You look like a douche.
Maybe the blinking is another stroke….
This debate is DEADLY EARNEST!
Oh still going the protest route.
And Stephen, pjmedia needs to rejigger the “posting too quickly thing”
Joe is the Village Idiot. Martha is his enabler.
I hate Lieberals. They lie to us and expect us to think they are wunnerful.
Biden is going to lose major points with that smirky, jackassed grin, and snarky, dismissive responses. That’s just on style, and he’s clearly BSsing on content.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Joe is filibustering like his master. He was banking that his assurance and passionate tone would make up for lack of content.
But he’s blowing it big time with his outright obnoxiousness. Ryan’s playing it cool and measured.
Yeah, that smirk and the little laughs are terrible- it’s the same arrogance Obama displayed, only magnitudes worse.
“Would you buy a used car from this man?”
I wouldn’t buy a drink from this man; and I find I have to leave the bar when he is present. Just hate to drink in the presence of jackasses.
Yes. I was watching in Canada with some liberal folks. Even they were offended by Biden’s goofy expressions. “There are serious issues here…”
Biden opts to throw “Intelligence” under the Obama bus.
Biden complains that Romney rushed to the cameras in the immediate aftermath of Benghazi. Ryan should respond: Yes, and Obama rushed to the next fundraiser.
Ryan just got Biden to shut up.
Wow did Biden just support lifting sanctions?
A very lazy debate moderator…..and quite an advocate for Biden.
Biden’s smile is creepy, he seems like he’s condescending.
Joe’s laughing is killing me. I gotta go pour another scotch already.
I wonder what Biden is selling? “And if you pay 19.95, you get a free set of ginsu knives…”
“lets take a look at the facts”
“and please buy this ginsu knives…”
Yes, Joe. Those plates are nice and shiny white.
Joe getting hot under collar…oh yes Crippling sanctions have filled up rooms with centrifuges for “nuclear power” and “Nuclear Medicine”. Wonder what save the enviro folks think about nuclear fallout…
Biden- his mother!
No doubt Gaffe Joe had the questions ahead of time. Biden gives me the creeps. More drinks.
“I always say what I mean.” -Biden
…~speechless~
“We saved a million jobs, and 200,000 are working today.”
So, uh, what happened to the other 80%?
Joe is coming across as a jerk. Paul is sincere and earnest.
Biden is a soporific, when he talks I think I’m getting narcolepsy.
I cannot wait to see Saturday Night Live this week – the Laughing Biden – oh the humanity!
Bidens laugh and smile are killing me.
Who taught Bidden how a bomb works? Any security adviser worth his salt would know that the technology used in a Uranium bomb is simpler to build then the technology it takes to enrich the the Uranium. if they have the Uranium, then they can have a bomb within a month.
Ryan : “Here are the facts”
Biden : “NUH UH!”
This is why an unbiased moderator is important. She’s cut Ryan off at least three times when he’s about to go on a roll.
I’m glad you’re watching this for me, Steve. I could only handle a half hour of the Slow Joe Show. I’ll catch the summaries later tonight or tomorrow.
“Two wars on the credit card and prescription drug benefits caused the mess we are in.”
I have heard this line so often that I have a ready line to go in response; “No they did not!”
All Joe has is bluster, and cheap debate tactics.
Biden’s constant interrupting makes me stabby.
Is there a prize for the most interruptions?
Healthcare costs are supposed to be dropping so what’s Joe’s point?
Your posting too quickly is broke. I’m still trying to get first post in.
Moderator is definitely helping Biden.
Biden’s talking to the camera is creepily reminiscent of Ross Perot debating Al Gore 20 years ago.
I love the fact that “Uncle Joe” keeps trying to interrupt Cong. Ryan, but he continues to speak in the same reasonable voice. Just like I talk to my crazy old uncle, just to try to calm him down…
Biden is making himself look like an asshole with the constant interrupting. Unfortunately I don’t think Ryan is kicking his ass from a “visual” standpoint. Ryan is holding his own, and I think that’s enough in this one.
Cannot get even one comment in. What is going on? Awful moderator.
“You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.”
Oh, okay. Sorry Stephan. I am outta here and outta PJTV. This outfit is not ready for prime time.
Biden is a used car salesman yukking it up after selling you a rusty 1972 Pinto for $50000. How can anybody listen to this giggling SOB and not understand he is lying?
I have proof sitting in my hubby’s office that GM went bankrupt. When we refinanced our house to get out of a variable rate, we were shopped around. Sadly, we were picked up by GMAC. This was just last year. Last week we got a letter about the Chapter 11 bankruptcy situation with GMAC. General Motors Acceptance Corporation. So I know Biden lied.
Wonk is beating Cheap Debate Tactics assisted by Moderator.
To my fellow democrats! This is embarrassing, the race is over. Biden is more annoying than Gore.
How many democrats are staring to think that the sooner Obama and this doofus are gone the better the chance that Obama will leave office with ANY semblance of a positive reputation intact.
Biden sounds like a drunk uncle raving at a family picnic.
I am so sick of hearing “how are you going to pay for the tax cut”? …and now I’m out of liquor. PPP.
Why do tax cuts have to be “paid for”? They make it sound like they graciously let us keep some of our money. Shouldn’t spending have to be paid for?
Uh-oh. Math.
probably the worst debate moderator. Wow. Would it be better if she put an Obama 2012 sticker on her forehead?
Martha is in the tank for Joe. Joe is an idiot. And she lets the idiot call the shots.
How does Biden get away with so many interrupts? He was winning handily, and is beginning to look desperate.
Why is Ryan always on a split screen with Grumpy? Damn, I hate Raddatz.
Ryan is being pushed around. He needs to tell Joe to put a sock in it. And he needs to push back on the mideratir
Put a muzzle on Biden, the moderator is in the tank. Now I have to get tanked to listen to this rude, out of touch assclown. A panicky, rude assclown. Moderator is in the tank, it’s 2 vs 1. Interrupting and not letting Ryan speak.
But it’s so blatant that people (not including Democrat automatons) aren’t going to be fooled. Ryan just needs to remain unflappable.
Responsibility to protect only applies to small countries? Who knew.
Now Biden is flat out lying on religious organizations.
Did BIden just “Flip-Off” Ryan?!?
Joe is flailing wildly and yelling full-throated, mindless class warfare.
Martha Raddatz has now openly joined the debate on Joe’s side.
Ryan doesn’t miss a beat. And keeps his temper.
This moderator is reprehensible.
She sent Crazy Joey off on the rant that lost it for him.
Raddatz is moderating Joe – not the debate. Every time Joe looks like he’s starting to foam at the mouth she deftly moves the conversation to other subjects.
The DNC must pay well…
Biden is a huge jerk! How incredibly rude
Joe loves that $800 billion number.
Does anyone believe that this administration has completed the job?
should have had 2 moderators, and at least one of them should not have just had presidente gun runner over to the house for vittles, and a marryin’. what a joke.
looks like biden been hitting the laughing gas. laughing about bad stuff is a coping mechanism for losers.
“President Gun-runner” – I love it!
Neither party can articulate “victory”.
That’s sad.
Forty-nine! Forty-nine!
Bless Ryan: he’s head and shoulders above Bide(t) and Martha. But I wish he’d occasionally talk over Martha’s cut-offs the way Romney did with Leher. A little more of kick butt from Ryan would be appreciated!
^^^ This. ^^^
He’s coming out of the debate looking like the one that knows what’s going on — AND, he didn’t punch Joe in the mouth. He did what he had to do.
Joe has started saying Tally Bon, just like Obama. Lord help us!
Tally me banana
Daylight come and me wanna go home
Biden sounds like something out of Dr. Strangelove. He’s a loon.
He’s got Merkin Muffley’s hair but Buck Turgidson’s demeanor. And hair trigger!
And that thing he does with his upper lip is kind of Who-ville-y
And the Martha looks like Cruella Deville in the original cartoon version
“You be a little straight with me here too.”
Line of the night.
Joe is saying Tally Bon, just like Obama. Lord help us!
Biden is too angry. And getting grumpy. And overtalking. It will be interesting to see how Frank Luntz and his audience view Biden’s approach.
Syria is much smaller that Libya.
“You be a little straight with me here too.”
Line of the debate.
God, all I can think is, “Biden is such a jerk.”
All I can think of is: Biden is one heart beat away from the presidency. We are screwed.
The moderator is a waste of oxygen who could not understand the math if it was etched on her miniscule brain!
Biden doesn’t really mention the president – how odd.
Go Ryan, go Ryan. What a shame we aren’t talking about the economy?
Wait, Ryan just hit the “reset” point. Ding, ding, ding. A knock down!!
Ryan is doing better at foreign policy
Does the vp’s incessant laughing drive anyone else crazy? Why not just ask if the middle east is safer today than it was four years ago.
waitaminute…restarting the M1 tank plant? Hey, this has-been tanker is all for that! Just what the world needs, way more 65 ton battle buggies, and the will to use them in support of national interests. Oh, my bad, that isn’t how da Big Zero rolls. (emilylatellamode=1)Never mind(emilylatellamode=0).
Posting too quickly my big hairy cavalry 4th point of contact. What would Fred Flintstone do?
Joe Biden for President!
This isn’t a debate in any sense of the word. The “moderator” is debating Ryan, allowing Biden to jabber his sound bite falsehoods in the background (and smile that smarmy, silly, vacuous smile at arguments he can’t counter). On the other hand, I’m really disappointed that Ryan doesn’t challenge the core premise of tax rate cuts “giving” money to the rich (or anyone, for that matter).
Also disappointed that Ryan didn’t counter Biden’s emphatic assertion that tax revenues have never been raised by tax rate cuts (they have every single time they have been enacted everywhere on the planet).
All the Proggies that are friends of moderate friends of mine are excited as all hell. They’re excited at Biden’s loud, dismissive tone of voice. “GET ‘EM, JOE!” is the message coming from them.
Obama’s base is re-excited. That’s not a good thing.
– for your concern.
Haha awesome. I didn’t even bother to watch the debate. I just came here and hit ‘reload’ every 5 minutes or so.
Uncle Joe, nice scratchy voice. Turning it on and off is definitely a skill…
I’m not BRAVE enough to watch the debate. Thank heavens for Stephen Green and drunkblogging.
That’s it! I have had it up to here with this website strangling commenters. There should be a thousand entries but we’re all being cut off by this automated BS.
The question about a soldier questioning the “tone” of the campaigns… Jesus, was this a plant for Biden?
He’s too pat.
Probably one of the sensitive fellows who got in when Don’t Ask Don’t Tell ended
I don’t question the question.
Biden responded to a cue. He had that answer “in the can”.
He had talking points for class war, taking care of the careless I mean less fortunate, it was Bush’s fault, and the Generals all say…. but he had a script for a question that was almost as out of left field as was the “character” question.
I’m reading too many Left blogs…
My guess is that Biden’s behavior is intentional. Make him the scapegoat for Obama’s debate failure and give the campaign a reason to dump Biden and go with Clinton.
Not a chance. Two words: Terry Eagleton.
Upshot of the debate: rude Joe vs. Earnest Paul.
Obama “record”: Bang!
Shorter Joe: It’s Bush’s fault.
71,498.37 = Syria
679,361.91 = Lybia
Biden stated the reason obama has not intervened in Syria as in Libya is that Syria is 5 times larger than Libya. Math problem Biden??
His monkeyshines looked more like a meth problem.
Biden never never mentioned Paul Ryan by name – not once. How does someone keep calling a person sitting right next to him “my friend” – well, it’s so, well, peculiar. Maybe it works on the floor of the Senate, but in a cozy little chat with Martha?
Ryan calls Biden, “Joe” -does that not say it all?
Uncle Joe talks to Martha. Paul Ryan talks to us. Nuf said…
I thought he lost early, but came back strong. I agree with the drunk above, not a knockout, but a win. Mod was pretty pro Biden
Creepy uncle
– from the altar boys.
Can you imagine Biden as President? The man is a buffoon…
This is bizarre. I’ve never witnessed a politician look as clownish as Biden has for the last 45 minutes.
And good grief, PJMedia. Fix your servers so we don’t continue to be warned “you’re posting too quickly.”
I haven’t posted once.
Ditto. Haven’t posted once the entire evening.
Ryan won because Joe made sure the Americans he is trying to win over with his smugness and petulance turned the channel and missed any arguments. They will ask, do I want someone that much of a jerk back in the oval office?
Ryan: saying “we” rather than “the Obama administration” was not a good idea.
Answers to Martha’s ludicrous abortion question: Ryan was brilliant. Bide(t): blousy and insincere.
(I commented THIRTY MINUTES ago, but my last THREE comments were lost because “You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.” Really? I thought the idea was to give blow by blow comments. One allowed every 30 minutes? Give me a break! I’m going to try again.)
47% …. Enough said right there!
Creep.
71,498.37 sq mi. = Syria
679,361.91 sq mi. = Lybia
Biden stated the reason obama has not intervened in Syria as in Libya is that Syria is 5 times larger than Libya. Math problem Biden??
71,498.37 = Syria
679,361.91 = Lybia
Biden stated the reason obama has not intervened in Syria as in Libya is that Syria is 5 times larger than Libya. Math problem Biden??
I thought it was the other way around – bigger in land mass and therefore harder to act in… but when I check Wolfram Alpha, Libya is about 9 times bigger.
Joe don’t know Syria.
Maybe Biden was just trying to keep perfect record on the topic of Libya- every single thing he said about Libya tonight was wrong. It would have been nice if Ryan had pointed that out.
iran…74.9 million.
syria…20.8 million.
libya…6.4 million.
Mark, my pocket calculator shows 20.8 divided by 6.4 is 3.25. So if Biden was talking population, which he should have stated, then his 5X Syria over Libya is still wrong.
Rifle308
Ah–I sense a great political commercial. It won’t happen, but–play a video of Biden–and then fade away to a voice over–”Even if you prefer Obama over Romney–would you really want something like Biden being President if Obama died in office? Think about it.”
Joe Biden gets a 10 and a 10 and a 10 !!!
1) For [red faced] anger.
2) For hand and fist waving.
3) For big grins/smirks here and there and everywhere, appropriate or inappropriate, before he got too angry to grin/smirk.
Senator Ryan not only held his own against a life long politician, but made some very excellent points. He had substance but the VP showed experience of one who is comfortable twisting the facts. His body language was not that of a professional. The moderator seemed to be cutting the topic short when the VP was on the defense. The VP’s facial expressions were laughable as was his complaints about not getting enough time.
@119
Ryan is a congressman, not a senator. But agreed.
Ryan didn’t steamroll Biden, but Biden did nothing to stop the bleeding for Obama. His smirking isn’t playing well among MSM types, either.
In his closing statements, Congressman Ryan reminded me very much of a young JFK. VP Biden? More like Jeff Dunham’s puppet, Walter. Which may be not far off the mark. =^[.]^=
LOL!
Please do not be that cruel to Walter. Walter is just a bit grumpy. Not condescending and rude. Comparing Biden to him is insulting. Dumbass.
LOL! Walter! Yeah that was great! I will have a hard time getting that image out of my head.
People forget that Biden didn’t need to win over any new voters. Dems already have the lead.
Biden just needed to show the base that he was willing to be an aggressive, dismissive attack dog. He did that in spades.
Ryan needed to convert Obama voters. I don’t think he did that.
Dems have the lead? Read the polls lately?
In fact, Obama is so far ahead, it’s really unfair that we even have to have the election! But we do. So remember, Republicans (the visiting team) vote on November 6th, Democrats (home team, last ups) on November 7th!
Hey! We’ll have none of that here! Michelle Obama has already told us that Democrats vote on November 2nd, not the 7th!
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/michelle-obama-get-polls-november-2_650573.html
“Dems already have the lead.”
You are delusional.
– Sullivan.
best line I heard all night
“Biden has that look on his face, like he’s trying to remember the third or maybe fourth digit of pi.” vodkapundit
Overall, biden was a rude dude, lacking courtesy and professionalism, that unlike the vp, was proudly displayed by Paul Ryan.
Biden launched into a few of his answers so fast and without second thought, I would have to believe he was fed the questions up front.
The moderator was too willing to try and interject herself against Ryan, and did not do so against biden, showing this was a biased setup, one that failed to spark a rude response from Ryan that could play to the fake media’s attempts to paint Ryan badly.
I do think Ryan should have called biden on his BS interruptions and overall idiotic rudeness. I think it would have sent him over the edge and we would have seen the senile/childlike true biden without handlers. He was almost always on the verge of outright shouting in anger during the show.
Biden amplified Obama’s arrogance.
He forgot there are several more letters after the “ass” in “assertive”.
My impression is that Biden won the debate. Ryan was much stronger on foreign policy with clearer and more sensible answers, but Biden won domestic the same way (when he wasn’t rattling numbers that went in one ear and out the other). Since the public cares about domestic more than foreign, Biden won.
Deference to butt ugly women is sexism.
I wish politicians (especially the Democrats) would quit invoking “what the JCS recommends.” The JCS base their recommendations on whatever planning parameters the SecDef (a political appointee) gives them to work with.
The big question is whether or not the independents appreciate Biden’s bluster, or despise Biden’s arrogance.
Even the PBS guy commented that Biden tends to smile at the wrong time. I kept thinking of Alice in Wonderland:
Alice: My Daddy told me to beware of those who smile a lot.
Cheshire Cat: Why?
Alice: Because they are either very jolly all the time, which is unlikely, or have something to hide.
Cheshire Cat: But I’m not smiling.
Alice: What’s that on your face then?
Cheshire Cat: It’s a grin.
Alice: I don’t know if it’s better or worse, because a grin is a sort of giant smile.
Cheshire Cat: Smile or grin, maybe there’s another possible reason for it.
Alice: What’s that?
Cheshire Cat: Maybe it’s because I’m mad?
Perfect –the Cheshire Cat also disappeared from tail-end forward until only the disembodied grin remained, a weightless image hovering in the air.
Best comment I’ve seen all night. Bravo.
Hear, hear!
“Mad Joe” Biden … who’da thunk Alice in Wonderland would have shown up at the VP debate.
A la Eastwood — a grin with a body behind it.
Biden proved that he could speak coherently (most of the time) and that his mind is still clear. This is good to know.
Raddatz proved that she favors Obama and Biden. This is also good to know.
And, Ryan demonstrated that he does, indeed, have rather clear, if not stark, beliefs regarding Life and in the necessity of America to be a World Leader in every respect – militarily and economically. This is also good.
Other than the above points, the rest of the debate by all three individuals was mainly fluff with prevarications and calculated confusions thrown in…
Biden is a rude, arrogant ass. He makes me want to reach through the monitor and slap the sh*t out of him.
Joe Biden is hiding in here, someplace. This is the logic of the Democrats: The Democratic Honker Duckie Dinger Jamboree
Evidently I can’t post the video of Big Bird, Ernie and his Duckie, and the Honkers and Dingers on PJ. ::sadness:: They were perfect
Biden: “My record stands for itself.” Yes, Joe, yes it does. That can happen with rigor mortis.
Biden interrupted Ryan and the moderator so many times during the debate, *I* even shut up once when he was looking right into the camera and talking to me and the rest of America.
“Joe Biden: One Afghan soldier = One US Marine.
I beg to differ.”
Bravo!
Its all about the math. Predictably, Biden got it wrong.
From now on Biden should be called Snickers based on this silly performance.
Congressman Ryan is Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington –before the third act, of course. Steady, aware, bemused, immune to baiting, and relaxed, clear and confident, never over-trying, always in the flow. A serious man.
Biden was certainly the more comfortable speaker—glib and facile—making up facts with ease. He roamed around and roared as needed. Ryan was factual, disciplined, and on point, and displayed good manners the whole time.
Observations:
No screen actor Looks more like Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan than our new VP Paul Ryan. And Jack Ryan saved the nation and the world only like about what, 8 times?
Reagan? You think Reagan scares them? All we need to do is get Paul Ryan to grow his hair out longer and comb it back: Voila!- the presidential hairdresser lady can give him a hairdo to look exactly like Ronald Reagan’s. BAM !
Scary stuff. Tremble in your boots, democrats and media, a few photos of Ryan in his Reagan hair, posed in a Reagan pose, and your future presidential hopeys are all changied to crap.
Sorry I missed the drunk-blog. I was watching the debate with the Tri-Valley Republican Womens’ Federated group at Cattleman’s Restaurant in Livermore, CA. Great group, great restaurant staff, great debate!
I know it’s a drunkblog, but please clean up the double-posts, so I can forward this to friends and family memebers without too much embarrassment. Thanks!
surprised ryan didn’t wipe the floor with him, but glad it is over. a draw, left for others to argue.
interesting that cnn has ryan doing better among women…
shocking that woman would prefer the younger candidate, not.
in the grand scheme, as the debate momentum of romney fades, leaving him with a marginal lead, things roll into the benghazi coverup.
where ryan made no news, that would affect romney’s momentum, the same cannot be said of biden. he just threw a log on the fire for the benghazi bonfire. his answer, most assuredly will not be obama’s answer, when we get there in the real debates.
imho, ryan, as always, seems to have pressured speech. he always struck me as the kid who was coasting along, and suddenly got hit with ritalin…and started substantially achieving. nothing wrong with it, just mho.
as a side note…medicated speech…victoria nuland and that sing song pattern is a lot easier to perform if you are packed full of xanax or valium.
…the plugs obviously went too deep….
Sorry ,I watched that yanks instead but it went late and they lost so who cares what happened tonight.I already know who ‘Im voting for so this is just noise to me at this point.
The Left are going to think that Biden won the debate because he talked over the top of Ryan every chance he got. They are not interested in the content of the debate, just who can yell the loudest. If you have nothing to say and you don’t want people to hear an opposing view, you make a lot of noise so the audience can’t hear, or (better in their perception) you try to distract your opponent from his train of thought. Ryan was up to the task, though I’m not sure if Biden failed in his attempt to talk louder and distract the electorate.
Obama the empty chair and Biden the buffoon. Repeat and spread that around to everyone you know. Let those images sink in and become the “narrative” for people to remember on election day. Don’t let up on this people! Romney and Ryan can now be seen as the true leaders and grownups and we must let that stick.
For those who are saying this was a draw or Ryan was a point behind; absolutely not turning out that way. Even the liberals are conceding (reluctantly) that Biden came out the fool and Ryan the cool cucumber. That alone won the debate for Ryan.
Am I being too simplistic? Biden had to move the ball forward. He did not. Ryan simply had to avoid losing ground. He managed to do that (just barely).
If 65% of communication is non-verbal (body language, facial expression, non-verbal cues, etc.), Biden was a disaster. Creepy Uncle Joe (aka the Chesire Cat, per 131. John Gardner) is one heart beat away from the presidency. Incroyable. As one friend put it, Biden is the guy we were all told to STAY AWAY FROM at the family picnic.
Raddatz, as a moderator, was a total fail.
pretty fair summary. I would add though, that biden needed to knock this one so far out of the park, that he could buy the admin more time on libya.
instead, he made news on libya. well…actually he just lied about libya, so badly, that andrea mitchell called him out.
hard to walk back on a statement that was repeated for emphasis.
The Iranians don’t have a weapon to put it in? What is this? Rocket science? Oh Yeah it is and the Iranians have a rocket! A rocket/missile that will reach Israel. The second piece of a “weapon” is the detonator. Electronically speaking, this is trivial since 1998. The third piece is the fissile material is hard but only hard. Not difficult!
Fissile material. GRRRRRR! Yeah this the choke point. The one that nobody is doing anything about. But we might not know if the Iranians decide to launch a “test” missile over Israel to confirm their nuclear program.
BTW: 4 years ago Sarah Pailin Kicked Biden’s ass. Ryan did the same to a lesser degree. Before you call me a moron check the Constitution for Articles relating to the president of the Senate.
The thing nobody’s talking about wrt Iran and nuclear weapons: all they have to do to make large areas of Israel dead and uninhabitable it to put ‘dirty bombs’ – i.e. highly refined uranium shell around a high-explosive core – on the missiles they already have. Don’t have to refine uranium to fission levels, don’t have to learn how to do precision-implosion spheres, or any of the rest of the trickier parts of nuclear weapons technology. I think they’re already there, or within weeks of it, if that’s what they decide to do. And the mullahs _might_ decide to if they think they, personally, would survive the try. That’s why they need to know we have Israel’s back, with no question.
we’ve had an awfully long run of fantastical characters at the top of the exec branch –really, counting even the good few among the seeming holograms from the Chuck Jones studio, all the way back to Ike.
Now tonight we see on the left side of our screens the baroque or decadent phase of that post-Ike school of governance theater. The apparition came into view tonight for the second time lately –the first of course the prez debate in Denver. In both cases, the other guy on stage has somehow changed the stage-craft, and now the Obama and the Biden look like extremely odd characters to have ever been cast in their current roles in the first place.
Romney and Ryan make for a hundred million forehead-slaps, “what the hell was I thinking? What we need for President (and backup) is plain folks, humble of attitude, but smart, virtuous, and students of the Constitution, that miraculously effective blueprint for this radical experiment called ‘self-governance’”.
Actually, the moderator wasn’t't as bad as she could have been. However, she interrupted Ryan a lot and Biden never.
Ryan had no knockout blows. And Biden? Is it possible to stop interrupting? Sheesh? I’m yelling at the tv!
Ryan pro-life answer was good. Biden’s? “Um, yeah I’m a catholic. But, you can kill unborn kids as long as I’m around.”
The Biden grinning was seriously annoying!!
It appeared to me that Ryan just sort of sat back and let Joe wrap the rope around his neck. Why interfere with that?
I am sorry that that Paul Ryan never had made a comment about the Constitution, so Joe could say “he was in the room” when it was signed
You’re back!!!!! Hurrray! IMHO, there was nothing anyone could do short of duct tape to shut Biden up, because he was there to do the work of two men…the fact that he’s too silly to do the work of a teenage boy is beside the point, but how do you tell the VP to shut up and mind his manners? I was aghast at how he used the “my first wife died” argument….oh, your guy takes time to help a person in need? My wife died! …really hamfisted…
I thought that he was picked as VP because he had extensive foreign relations exposure, but they seem to keep him away from the meetings or anything on that subject, because he fell back onthe “we didn’t know then, it wa the tape……we didn’t know they wanted reinforcements” mantra. Let’s say that he was busy practicing…mmm, training for this debate, someone should have told him that the resl facts had come out….they didn’t, so how valuable is he to the administration, when they let him go out there with the same pathetic material they give Ms. Cutler?
Missing from the debate last night was the lampshade on crazy Joe’s head.
Can anyone in their right mind picture this ignorant doofus with the nuclear football?
Joe: “Wow, look at that. Let’s play a game of touch in the backyard.”
Joe: “What’s that button for? Oops!”
Here is my question. Why didn’t Ryan savage Biden? Why not? Biden savaged Ryan and Biden didn’t care how he looked while doing it. Which is the way to do it.
If Biden does it why shouldn’t we? God knows if any person is vulnerable because of their life and statements being gist for the mill, its Biden. I mean this VP will not even say he is this administration’s VP.
And its not like Ryan isn’t up to it. Did the political handlers not see the reason for all out Ryan attacks? Because they are obvious – President creamed, then VP creamed. And Romney beat up Obama with style and class, so Ryan needed worry about creating a wrong impression if he got his hands dirty.
Instead Ryan only held his ground, and Biden halted for now the Obama general erosion. Pity.
Here’s where we see a Romneyesque strategy in motion.
Paul Ryan was told to simply NOT be too rude to this old fool, because the BASE (and a vast majority of the squishy center) won’t like that, while Biden was told to be as rude as he wants, because his base likes that (which just goes to show you how debased and rotten the Democrats really are) .
Romney’s 47% remark was right on target, but the numbers are beside the point. He was talking about his STRATEGY to his supporters, explaining his reasoning to them. The key is that he’s after the rest of the softies in the middle, who I think were quite shocked at discovering what an a-hole Biden really is. Last night changed Biden from that crazy funny uncle you invite who always makes a fool of himself at Thanksgiving into the uncle you never speak to after THIS Thanksgiving, because now he’s rude and nasty, and you’ve just now discovered how nasty he always was.
I’m sure Romney gave Ryan a check-list, because I’m sure that’s how he does things:
1) Don’t be rude to that old fool.
2) Make your points, but don’t bury anybody with numbers. They’re all retarded in the middle. They can’t balance a check-book, and don’t know what the “out years” even means.
3) If Joe interrupts, let him. Every time he sets his mouth in motion, we get more votes.
4) Try not to punch him in his lying mouth. Keep your cool.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Mitt arranged for that rude bitch to moderate. Notice, though, the new MSM trick: the first three minutes, I thought she might be a closet conservative, for chrissakes! When she instantly turned into Biden’s bitch (and, toward the end, clearly his prompter, feeding him his lines) it finally made sense. That was so they could point to two or three cuts SHOWING BEYOND ALL DOUBT that she had been “fair”. I’ve noticed this tactic before, but never so brazenly attempted.
Therefore:
5) Don’t attack the commie bitch. Let her run her mouth. She’ll add to the meme of Paul Ryan being persecuted, which, if you just sit there and take it, with those mooneyes and winning smile going full blast, will get us more soccer moms and single moms than all the condoms in China. Think: how would Jesus look? And make that face. Or a beagle puppy, who’s tail has been stepped on. That face will work, too.
Now, the base won’t like it. How in Hell can you watch Babe Ruth sit there and take three strikes (which, because they were all aimed at his head by a nasty pitcher, weren’t even strikes at all)? Well, Romney is an experienced problem-solver, not a pathetic, slimey, know-nothing politician. First problem: he needs to get elected. We’re already voting for him. The commies are not. But that great, big, fat, lazy, stupid blob of useless humanity in the middle is just sitting there begging to be manipulated, nay DEMANDING to be manipulated. Since logic and science are utter strangers to them, that manipulation must be subliminal. They don’t like thinking all that much.
Jesus or Beagle puppy, Paul. Your choice.
Mittens is looking better to me all the time.
(Stephen, this is a repost from Richard’s. If that’s not cool, just delete it. I don’t know how to internally link to another post. Sorry if I made a problem. It just seemed even more appropriate here.)
I was looking for the reference about Biden saying things that didn’t come out quite the way he meant it.
As long as Biden looked angry, and there was the bit of perspiration on his upper lip, I say that Ryan won on points.
For what it’s worth, listening on the radio in the car, I thought Biden won by a slight margin — not on points but on old pol smoothness. A bit later, with nothing better to do, I watched the rebroadcast on TV in the motel room. I thought Biden came across as a slick creep I wouldn’t buy used dentures from, and I would have said Ryan won.