Joe Biden crushed Paul Ryan tonight. We expected Biden to have the edge in foreign policy but it was especially important for him to call Ryan on his bullcrap with regard to tax policy and Social Security and Medicare. And on those points Biden didn't concede a thing. Unlike Obama in his debate, Biden actually appeared to participate in the event.
To a certain point, I agree with Josh Marshall here.
Biden made the whole Democratic argument — on policy and values and he hit Romney really everywhere Democrats wanted him to. He left nothing unsaid. You can agree with those points or not. But this was exceedingly important for recovering the damage from last week’s debate when many Obama supporters simply felt that Obama wasn’t willing or able or something to make the case Democrats around the country are hyped up to make. Why didn’t you say this? Why’d you let him get away with that?
Biden said it all. And for Democrats around the country that was extremely important.
For reasons that are complicated and juvenile, during his vice presidency a caricature has emerged of Biden as some sort of Crazy Irish Uncle, gaffetastic and corny, a risible figure. That left people unprepared for what they saw tonight. Ryan was unprepared too. Biden’s actually one of sharpest guys in Washington and has been for decades.
That second paragraph, though, I don't understand at all. I've always loved The Onion parody of Joe Biden. Obviously there's humor in emphasizing buffoonish characteristics but I don't think anyone who pays attention takes that stuff at face value. In fact, the buffoonish Biden scans very near to similar perceptions of President Clinton who was also viewed as a competent wonk. So I don't think it follows that the "Crazy Uncle" Biden isn't also understood as "one of the sharpest guys in Washington."
Furthermore, you really don't get or care about the joke Biden if you don't already know something about the actual Biden in the first place. So not only is it a fun joke, it is also not a very damaging one. If anything it helps to give an otherwise stale consummate "Washington insider" a patina of authenticity.
This isn't to say I think Joe Biden (or Bill Clinton, for that matter) is anything other than a big careerist phony. Only saying that it's possible to know this about them, appreciate their intelligence, and also enjoy their character foibles all at once.
Voters are a bunch of Etch-a-sketchers. Romney talked over the President and got credit for being "strong" and "firm." Biden calls Ryan out (he may be intelligent and so on but no way is he qualified to be President or take over as President in the event that Romney should win and then, heaven forbid, something happen to him) forcefully and is considered rude. The problem, it seems, is that voters desperately want to believe in the Romney-Ryan-G.W. Bush BS that we can have large tax cuts, expanded defense spending and preservation of Social Security and Medicare all at the same time (and that if there is any deficit at the end it can be taken care of easily by cutting funding for PBS, NPR, foreign aid welfare give-away's and if a some liberal bureaucrats' heads roll, well, that's no big loss). And do voters really care about the deficit/federal debt? No -- unless deficit spending is allowing liberal social programs to continue. There will never be serious attempts made at deficit reduction unless somehow there's some genuine crisis that requires it and then if and when it does it will be surprisingly painful for a lot of people and especially for right-wingers who can't fathom right now what would really have to be done in order to address the deficit.
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