Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
Rick Wilson persuasively argues below that Vice President Joe Biden's principal objective going into Thursday night's debate was to reenergize the dispirited Democratic base. If so and if the vice president's clownish performance fitted the script, it only confirms the cluelessness of the supposedly brilliant Chicago-based managers of the Democratic campaign.
Everything I learned about presidential communications in the Reagan White House tells me that the American people will interpret Biden's clownish contemptuousness toward Paul Ryan as contemptuous toward them and toward the electoral process. But the problems with the Biden performance went beyond his lack of manners.
The morning after the debate, I wrote elsewhere (http://tinyurl.com/8lgq8w6 ) that in substance as well as style Mr. Biden hurt the Democratic ticket. The article finished with this assessment:
If last night had been a presidential debate, the game would be over. Instead, the Obama-Biden ticket merely dug the hole it was in just a little deeper. It will take the remaining presidential debates to seal their fate. But if those face-offs are like the ones we've seen last couple of weeks, the bottom could drop out of their campaign.
The amazing thing is that saying their re-election operation might fall apart is now plausible. After last week and last night, it looks as though the problem with that incredibly professional political behemoth might be that at its center are two empty suits.
Since that article appeared, the Catholic bishops have categorically contradicted Mr. Biden's statement about the contraceptive mandate (http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-163.cfm ) , too many source to list here have expressed disbelief about his "we weren't told" excuse about the Libyan disaster and today the Wall Street Journal's lead editorial took on his disturbing revisionism about the character of the Iranian nuclear threat (http://tinyurl.com/9m5bs73 ).
With each day that passes, his performance looks like an even bigger negative for the Democrats than it did on Friday morning.
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Aug '11
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
Bingo! That was exactly my feeling--Biden's antics demonstrated complete contempt for anyone who was hoping to hear a serious exchange of ideas in the debate.
Jan '11
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
In his own way, Biden kind of grows on you.
Not like that's a good thing ...
Feb '12
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
May we compare remarks in a debate to grape juice? While some grapes are worthy of Chateau Mouton Rothchild, other grapes are of such poor quality that they are not worthy of being bottled at all. May we compare the words of pretense as "sour grapes"?
God forbid that we are so arrogant that we seem to feel that we are immune to the judgment of wise and prudent listeners, that stage gamesmanship trumps honest substantial argument in a debate! God forbid that our conscience is so jaded, if not entirely dead, that we are willing to lie when we know perfectly well that what we say is not true!
Even if it appears that the Obama officials may seem to be able to be as presumptuous as they please before the Mainstream Media, the Mainstream Media have less and less to say about how the American people are reacting to this behavior. The American people are "on" to the "game"! You lose, Mr. Biden!
Oct '12
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
Right after the debate, my wife asked me "who do you think won?" Unlike the previous Presidential debate, in which nearly everyone agreed that Romney won it hands down... as her question itself implied, it was not clear cut this time, one way or the other.
But of course, the real question is what was the lasting effect. What was the taste left in the mouth, as it were. Biden's many factual errors aside, what will be remembered in the subconscious of the many millions of viewers days, or weeks later?
Well, what do we remember most vividly from a NASCAR race after a horrendous pile-up? Weeks later, what sticks in the mind is the crash, not the winner of the race. In a playoff game, we recall the spectacular fumble or overthrow, not the final score.
So I answered my wife with a question: "What will women remember about this debate two weeks from now." Her answer: "That Joe Biden was an arrogant ass."
Jan '11
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
I read today on Real Clear Politics that in a speech Obama had turned his attention back to Romney's income taxes.
And Rick Wilson said in the Ricochet podcast that the Obama campaign is holding one more piece of opposition research to drop on Romney at the appropriate moment, 10 or 14 days before the election. "They've had Mitt Romney's tax returns all along," Wilson said. "Any senator can request them."
Stand by. Get ready.
"The most devastating revelations ever!"
It's what they do.
Jun '11
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
@KC Mulville: He does grow on you, like a [insert favorite infectious disease here].
Dec '10
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
Like a cancerous carbuncle. Like a black and oozing bubo. Like the vilest, stinkingest, most vomit inducing... /okay, I could get carried away...
Jul '12
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
Thanks for the post.
FYI, your links aren't clickable (which is a because of the ricochet web site's posting mechanism and it's failure to parse text for URLs).
Also, FYI, URL shorteners obfuscate the destination of the link.
They come in handy when you have character limitations, like on twitter, but aren't necessary when you are linking from a web page.
For a more detailed case against URL shorteners, please see:
For posterity, I have taken the liberty of expanding the short URLs.
I have also made sure all unshortened links are clickable.
http://tinyurl.com/8lgq8w6
-->
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/clark-judge/2012/10/12/bidens-grins-during-the-debate-made-him-look-like-a-bully
http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-163.cfm
http://tinyurl.com/9m5bs73
Edited on October 14, 2012 at 2:05am-->
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443749204578052602951971998.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
Jul '11
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
Freesmith: I read today on Real Clear Politics that in a speech Obama had turned his attention back to Romney's income taxes.
And Rick Wilson said in the Ricochet podcast that the Obama campaign is holding one more piece of opposition research to drop on Romney at the appropriate moment, 10 or 14 days before the election. "They've had Mitt Romney's tax returns all along," Wilson said. "Any senator can request them."
Stand by. Get ready.
"The most devastating revelations ever!"
It's what they do. · 1 hour ago
Ooh, maybe some foreign bank accounts. Pretty much like every other multimillionaire I know.
Aug '10
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
I had breakfast with an old friend, democrat. He thought it was grand . Missouri democrats are hard people and that kind of performance resonated with them, as they are usually drunk when the candidate speaks at the rally. They know to show up an hour before and drink all the free booze they can.
This guy's uncle was known for buying more beer than anyone in the state's history during his senatorial primary campaign against Eagleton.
He has an enormous beer bust at every rally. Didn't work out. But he got his later and dropped the dime on Eagleton with Jack Anderson and helped to sink the McGovern race.
This is how democrats play, hard and mean. Watch Clintons carefully as Obama edges Hillary and the State Department closer to the edge of implausible deniability on Benghazi.
IF AND ONLY IF WE CAN KEEP IT IN THE NEWS !
Jul '11
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
What is comical to me is Biden's assertion he'll be ready to stop Iran with great intelligence yet claims utter ignorance of an obvious Al Qaeda attack. You can't be a total moron and Sherlock Holmes simultaneously.
Jul '11
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
flownover: I had breakfast with an old friend, democrat. He thought it was grand . Missouri democrats are hard people and that kind of performance resonated with them, as they are usually drunk when the candidate speaks at the rally. They know to show up an hour before and drink all the free booze they can.
This guy's uncle was known for buying more beer than anyone in the state's history during his senatorial primary campaign against Eagleton.
He has an enormous beer bust at every rally. Didn't work out. But he got his later and dropped the dime on Eagleton with Jack Anderson and helped to sink the McGovern race.
This is how democrats play, hard and mean. Watch Clintons carefully as Obama edges Hillary and the State Department closer to the edge of implausible deniability on Benghazi.
IF AND ONLY IF WE CAN KEEP IT IN THE NEWS ! · 1 minute ago
Romney needs to ask Obama if he's out of touch by not attending briefings, willfully ignorant or just another liar.
Jan '12
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
It is encouraging that Biden's glib performance in the VP debate has helped Romney/Ryan, but it is also a flimsy gain.
It is evident by the constant back and forth of these various polls (all trying to be as accurate as possible), that we are the most fickle, shallow, ignorant, gullible, bribe-able, facile fools who ever lived in this great land!
What ever lead we may realize after the next 'debate' is still subject to the whims of outrageous fortune, right up until November 6.
The difference between the candidate's positions is so stark and the stakes are so high that we should win in a landslide!
What the electorate lacks (both parties), is a sense of righteous indignation about the government's extra legal, dangerous conduct.
There are two main reasons for this;
first, most people do not know their Constitution, thus, they do not recognize when something is not the purview of the government, and
second, the majority of citizens live beyond their means, as their government does.
If you borrowed against your house, and only pay the interest on your credit card, why would you be exorcised about Congress doing the same?
l
Edited on October 14, 2012 at 2:47amJul '12
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
Will be curious to see if the pastor has something to say about this tomorrow. Believe me, he would rather whack himself in the head with a brick than say anything about politics (and of course, churches that use the pulpit to endorse candidates or come down on sides with legislation stand to lose their tax-free status, except perhaps in Chicago) but the bishops are fighting mad and so is he.
Dec '10
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
Clarke,
Gd works in mysterious ways and I think Gd is running this campaign season. Biden with Raddatz's complicity went out to kill Paul Ryan. What happened was so over the top that it had the reverse effect. Women dispise Biden. Younger men 40 and below dislike and distrust Biden. Paul Ryan didn't win many over but he held to his own integrity and at the end of the day Biden's massive negatives vs Paul's modest positives make Ryan the big winner.
Also, the Benghazi lie and the Iran bloviating will come back and back to haunt Biden/Obama. The clips of him on these two issues should be turned into effective ADs. In fact there is probably a gold mine of material on economics etc. that can be used.
Biden is his own worst enemy. Let's capitalize.
Regards,
Jim
Nov '10
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
I'm shocked. I mean, really no joke.
After the debate I had no doubt Biden was a badly behaved slimeball throughout, but I thought he won. His bullying behavior was not effectively countered except for one tut-tut moment in which Ryan said, like the goody-two-shoes in class, "now Joe, I think the American People would be better served if we spoke in turn". Even the moderator barely acknowledged the behavior, and did nothing about it.
You're quite right, and I'm shocked that you are. I wouldn't have predicted it. The further we get from this debate the less anything Biden forced over top of Ryan's statements mattered. Nobody remembers the details. But we remember the sneers, the guffaws, the interruptions, and the patient demeanor of the challenger. In all matters that one retains a few hours afterwards. Biden looked like a victorious bully to me at the end of the debate. Today he just looks like an obnoxious jerk.
And I'm shocked that it isn't just conservatives who feel this way. Many liberals are clearly scandalized by it, or apologetic. Or in defending him they look just as bad. Remarkable.
Nov '10
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
KC Mulville: In his own way, Biden kind of grows on you.
Not like that's a good thing ... · 3 hours ago
Like, you mean, between the toes?
They say he's a real fun gi
Edited on October 14, 2012 at 3:46amDec '11
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
If Obama wins, he will have to quickly negotiate some resolution to the "fiscal cliff", and if he were even minimally responsible, would have to negotiate some basic items, like, you know, a BUDGET and DEFICIT PLAN. Negotiate with Republicans. Did Biden make him seem up to the task? That is one way to capitalize.
I have never really paid attention to Biden. I knew he plagiarized his life story, and saw a photo of him in Iraq wearing cool shades, loafers, and no socks, like Leonardo DiCaprio would . . . I knew enough.
But I was wrong. I was completely repulsed by his behavior during the debate. I felt sorry for Ryan and Martha having to be so close to this boorish and pathetic man. Heartbeat away from the presidency. I will not soon forget it.
Nov '10
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
Biden had another purpose besides throwing red meat to the radical goons in the Democrat base. All the smirking, chuckling and guffawing while Ryan was talking was meant to make it more difficult for anyone to hear everything Ryan was saying and to make Ryan’s words harder to turn into sound bites later.
It’s a nasty underhanded tactic often used by obnoxious hacks like Biden. Martha Raddatz, a fellow hack, was helping out with her one-sided interruptions of Ryan.
Edited on October 14, 2012 at 3:53amNov '10
Re: Biden's debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later
Freesmith: I read today on Real Clear Politics that in a speech Obama had turned his attention back to Romney's income taxes.
...
Stand by. Get ready.
"The most devastating revelations ever!"
It's what they do. · 2 hours ago
Ha Ha. You know what they've got by what they lead with. I remember at some point in the 2008 election the ABC "Deep Investigation" desk did a serious story on Sarah Palin's habit of writing thank you notes to people while in office, even putting happy faces on them, cheerfully thanking them for various things they've done for Wasilla or Alaska respectively. "Do we want a president to writes her own thank-you notes?"
I commented on their website for reducing the art of journalism to the level of dumpster-diving and mocking their assumption that this was somehow a deal-breaking expose or even a minor embarrassment. And I pointed out that it says something useful about Sarah Palin when those most interested in destroying her politically can't come up with anything better than smiley-faces and thank-you notes.
That piece was wiped from their website a few days later.