Cincinnati Enquirer
Biden, Ryan quarrel on just about everything 

DANVILLE, KY. — If the presidential debate last week felt like a wonky classroom lecture, the vice presidential debate Thursday night more closely resembled a playground quarrel. 

Vice President Joe Biden attacked U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan from the start and was far more aggressive than President Barack Obama was in his first debate with Mitt Romney one week ago. 

The approach drew a strong response from Ryan, who sparred with Biden in a lively and sometimes animated conversation about the economy, foreign affairs, tax policy and the budget deficit. 

The close quarters of Thursday’s debate – the candidates sat across a table from one another, just feet apart – intensified both the drama and their differences. 

Biden set the tone in the opening minutes of the debate by challenging Ryan’s criticism of the administration’s handling of security at the U.S. embassy in Libya, where a terrorist attack last month killed the American ambassador. 

“What we’re watching on TV is the unraveling of the Obama foreign policy,” Ryan said. 

“With all due respect,” Biden responded, “that’s a bunch of malarkey.” 

Biden was the aggressor throughout the debate, raising his voice to make a point, jabbing his finger in the air and, on several occasions, interrupting Ryan. He frequently referred to Romney and Ryan as “these guys,” and when Ryan compared his approach to that of John F. Kennedy, Biden shot back: “Now, you’re Jack Kennedy?” 

Ryan pushed back with some verbal jabs of his own, and at one point responded to a Biden criticism of him by saying, “I understand you’re under a lot of duress.” 

The sharper edge to the first and only vice presidential showdown was expected by many, given the heavy criticism Obama endured in the past week for a performance in the presidential debate that even he described as “a bad night.” 

Both Democrats and Republicans said the president’s lackluster performance helped Romney and Ryan close the gap and, in some cases, take the lead in recent national polls. 

The tightening race made the meeting between Ryan and Romney, held at Centre College in Danville, about 120 miles south of Cincinnati, the most significant vice presidential debate in years. 

Biden’s job was to make up ground lost in the past week, while Ryan’s mission was to hold on to whatever momentum the Republican ticket gained from the presidential debate. 

The two candidates were a study in contrasts throughout the debate. 

Biden, who at 69 is an experienced debater known for his grit and the occasional gaffes, firmly and sometimes loudly defended Obama’s policies. Ryan, who at 42 is a newcomer to national debates and one of the youngest vice presidential candidates ever, was more measured and less animated in many of his responses. 

The economy was front and center throughout much of the debate, with Biden and Ryan repeatedly framing the November election as a referendum on two dramatically different paths for the nation. 

Ryan criticized Obama’s $831 billion economic stimulus as a waste of money and a boondoggle that did little to boost the economy, saying it added to a budget deficit that is spiraling out of control. 

He said the economy is recovering too slowly and is suffering from too much government interference. 

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