2012 Debates

[johnny karate]

The assessment of this debate should be an interesting litmus on honesty and self-delusion. I don't recall many liberals claiming Obama won the last debate. Let's see how many conservatives will claim Ryan won this one.

 

[balrog666]

One last and very obvious thought: How many times did Biden say "Obama" and how many times did Ryan say "Romney" ...

 

[SezMe]

I'm impressed by comparison Ryan is miles above Palin. I don't know who is winning. I think much will be made of Biden's smirking. It bugs the hell out of me. And again, I don't agree with much of Ryan's politics but I'm personally impressed with his efforts here.

I'm over here in RandFan's camp. Especially his gawd damn SEG. How utterly irritating.

I saw it as a draw but I must confess I walked out just before the final summaries. Words, words words. Same-o, same-o, different suits. I'm sick of the campaign, the candidates, the ugly money, etc., etc. I can't wait until the whole mess is over. The USA is indeed exceptional - we run exceptionally stupid political races.


ETA: Raddich (sp?) joins Lerher in the loser column. Her last question was gag inducing.

 

[Wangler]

I want to say again, I was very impressed with Ryan's performance. If I didn't know about a number of Ryan's policy specifics I think I would have been swayed by his rhetoric and style. I liked it.

I think I'm partially surprised that he was so much better than Palin. The guy actually knows something.

It was clear to me that he was better than Palin just from what I have seen in brief news snippets.

I was impressed with Ryan's performance in his first big debate. If he had this performance on his 50th debate, not so much.

My take away from the VP debate:

Biden, love or hate him, is a darn good politician.

 

[Olowkow]

I want to say again, I was very impressed with Ryan's performance. If I didn't know about a number of Ryan's policy specifics I think I would have been swayed by his rhetoric and style. I liked it.

I think I'm partially surprised that he was so much better than Palin. The guy actually knows something.

I really didn't see it. He is glib, but was repeatedly shut down by Biden. He didn't go for any jugulars. I'd be interested to know what points you thought he did well on.

 

[RandFan]

She spends way too much time defending religion, particularly Christianity ,for me to believe she is atheist.

She has a religious test for public office. Odd given the Constitution says there shall be no religious test. Now, I know that the constitution doesn't dictate the standards for citizens but why would an atheist take such a stupid position? And yes, I've read her argument and it is absurd.

 

[Shalamar]

Media and TV is calling it a 'Tie'.

 

[Wangler]

I'm over here in RandFan's camp. Especially his gawd damn SEG. How utterly irritating.

I saw it as a draw but I must confess I walked out just before the final summaries. Words, words words. Same-o, same-o, different suits. I'm sick of the campaign, the candidates, the ugly money, etc., etc. I can't wait until the whole mess is over. The USA is indeed exceptional - we run exceptionally stupid political races.

I thought that Romney was kind of taken to task for his smirk, but I thought Ryan had the exact same smirk on display...didn't they learn? Or did their analysts think that went over well?

 

[Caper]

My ranking of the debate performances to date:

1. Romney
2. Biden
3. Ryan
4. Obama

I think that Romney and Biden could be a close tie, though. I'll give them a tie, and 3 points each. One point for Obama, and two for Ryan.

That means our score is 5-4, with Romney/Ryan holding on to a slim lead at half time.

I'd rank Biden 1. The smiling was the only thing I can fault him on.

 

[grunion]

Biden had trouble getting a lot of his words out but he definitely won in both passion and substance. Ryan should be applauded for keeping his cool when realizing he brought a rubber knife to a gunfight. He kept it under control.

 

[Baylor]

Good tweet from Ezra Klein

Obama looked like he didn't want to be debating Romney in the first place. Biden looked like he never wanted his debate with Ryan to end.

 

[AdMan]

Media and TV is calling it a 'Tie'.

Cite?

 

[Grizzly Bear]

Why? because he laughed at Ryan when Ryan spouted his BS?

He couldn't even contain himself when Ryan was making valid points unassociated with the usual spin. That signals to me his "laughter" and arrogance had plenty more to do than just "policy BS".

 

[RandFan]

I really didn't see it. He is glib, but was repeatedly shut down by Biden. He didn't go for any jugulars. I'd be interested to know what points you thought he did well on.

I liked how he had cogent responses. I understood them and even agreed on a few points (don't forget I'm a former conservative). In any event, I was disappointed on a couple of issues particularly when it came to a couple of fibs. But my overall impression was good.

 

[Shalamar]

Cite?

NBCnews 'Live'. A few the are calling it a Tie. Since that post, one or two have conceded points to Biden. They seem wishy-washy. Perhaps becuse Biden was a little abrasive at times.

 

[johnny karate]

I'd rank Biden 1. The smiling was the only thing I can fault him on.

Agreed. In both debates, I think Biden was really the only one who drew blood.

He brought up the 47% remark and basically made Ryan apologize for Romney all over again.

He very effectively made the Medicare/Social Security debate about a choice between the party who historically champions it and the party who as historically opposed it.

He absolutely schooled Ryan on Afghanistan. He made Ryan look like he had no idea what he was talking about.

He did a nice job of making a Romney/Ryan administration look like war-mongers.

He did a nice job of making a Romney/Ryan administration look like a threat to abortion rights.

ETA: Oh, and Biden also burned Ryan pretty good on the issue of the stimulus by pointing out that Ryan personally contacted him to request stimulus money.

 

[NoahFence]

I saw Biden's abrasiveness as passion. I thought he kicked Ryan's bootay

 

[Frank Newgent]

Oh, did I touch a nerve by touching on the truth there?

But if you want your crap to be believed, even by the most ignorant, show the videos so they are in context; unless you can't because it is just BS stills from god-nose-where.



Gosh, I hope you are getting paid for your efforts here, like a few others!!

As I was paid an amount large enough to generate a 10-99 I gotta say Ryan won.

 

[Halfcentaur]

I want to say again, I was very impressed with Ryan's performance. If I didn't know about a number of Ryan's policy specifics I think I would have been swayed by his rhetoric and style. I liked it.

I think I'm partially surprised that he was so much better than Palin. The guy actually knows something.

I found him to be a little sleazy myself, but I was thinking to myself during the debate how refreshing it was to have some actual politicians talking considering how inept and ignorant Palin was and how America jumped the shark it seemed to me to even pretend she was a politician.

 

[Caper]

Forgetting about what they said, Biden just seemed much more Presidential then Ryan. Ryan is no doubt very smart, but you either have a presidential look or you don't. I kind of was not expecting it because of how Biden is portrayed as a bit of a goof by the media.