It was as much a do-over as a debate.
Vice President Biden ostensibly took the stage Thursday night to square off against the man who seeks to replace him, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan discussed the tone of the campaign and delivered closing remarks during the vice presidential debate Thursday night in Danville, Kentucky.
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“We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us,” the president said.
But almost from the moment the debate began in Danville, Ky., it was clear that Biden’s real mission was to do what President Obama failed to in his own lackluster performance against Republican nominee Mitt Romney last week.
And in doing so, Biden was seeking to repair the damage from that stumble on Obama’s part, which has moved poll numbers across the map in the direction of the GOP ticket.
On issue after issue, Biden defended what the Obama administration has done and painted the Republican ticket as out of step with the concerns of average Americans.
“A bunch of malarkey,” said Biden when Ryan warned that cutting defense spending would make the country weak.
“I’ve never met two guys who are more down on America across the board,” added the vice president when the subject turned to the economy.
Ryan, on the other hand, chose to play it cautiously, seeking to avoid mistakes, to display the mastery of fiscal policy that he has gained as chairman of the House Budget Committee and to reassure swing voters that the policies of a Romney presidency would not decimate social programs.
It will be several days before it becomes clear whether either candidate did much to change the dynamic of the race; the instant polls suggested that viewers considered the matchup pretty much of a draw.
When he was talking, Biden dominated the debate and an opponent 27 years his junior.
And though Biden is a man with a reputation for making gaffes, his worst moments came when he wasn’t talking but remained under the unblinking gaze of the camera.
As Ryan spoke, the split screen picked up Biden’s grins and chortles, suggesting a dismissiveness and scorn for the views of an opponent he repeatedly called “my friend,” and he appeared to make no attempt to suppress them.
Although Biden’s frequent interruptions probably helped revive the spirits of the Democratic faithful, they may have been too much for less partisan viewers.
“Mr. Vice President, I know you’re under a lot of duress to make up for lost ground, but I think people would be better served if we don’t keep interrupting each other,” Ryan said at one point.
Biden made many of the arguments that Obama, for whatever reason, failed to in his debate against Romney.
For instance, Biden raised Romney’s controversial comment, caught on videotape, in which the Republican presidential nominee suggested that the 47 percent of Americans who do not pay income taxes are government-dependent freeloaders who consider themselves victims.
“These people are my mom and dad, the people I grew up with, my neighbors,” Biden said. “They pay more effective tax [through payroll and other taxes] than Governor Romney pays in his federal income tax. They are elderly people who, in fact, are living off of Social Security. They are veterans and people fighting in Afghanistan right now.”
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