The vice presidential debate between Vice President Biden and Congressman
Paul Ryan, which took place in Danville Kentucky on Thursday last represented a sharp confrontation between two well briefed and gifted politicians. It was political theatre at its best. The debate was made all the more interesting because it was a clash between a veteran of American politics and a rising star in its firmament.
Vice President Joseph Biden was at his best on the night. From the inception he launched a broadside against the policies of Mitt Romney and the Republicans, smiling, gesturing and giving weight to pronouncements by pointing to participation in actual events.
In foreign policy he showed great command of the issues. Taking advantage of his vast experience as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of Congress, Biden spoke with great authority, setting out the views of the Democrats on the current situation in Libya and Afghanistan. He emphasized that the deaths of the American Ambassador and four officials were in part attributable to the reduction in resources available for security, a situation brought about by decisions of the Republican- dominated House of Representatives.
As regard Afghanistan, Biden let the American people know in definitive terms that Washington was ending the longest war in its history. And on the thorny question of Syria, he schooled his opponent on the nuanced approach of the Obama administration to ensure that it did not end up being confronted by a regime dominated by Islamic extremists after the fall of Bashir Al Assad. Biden defended the administration’s policy on Iran with conviction and panache.
On domestic policy, a feisty Biden had his moments too. He was able to point out that while Ryan had condemned the Obama stimulus bill to restore the economy, he had requested funds for the district he represents. He was equally good on abortion, taxes, job creation, the defence of the middle class and the old and those in need. The obstruction of the Republicans in Congress was given biting critique. It was a bravura performance. If I have summarized Biden’s presentation at some length it is because I wanted to draw an effective contrast between his skilful use of this public event and President Obama’s lacklustre occupation of the debate stage last week.
It was clear too that apart from demonstrating the contrast between the Republicans and the Democrats across a range of issues, Biden was not going to make the same mistake that Obama did. He interrupted when it was necessary; spoke “over’’ Ryan to get tactical advantage; and often took the opportunity to look directly into the camera to address senior citizens on such matters as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. If it was not Biden’s finest hour it was certainly one of his finest nights. If the Republicans were expectedly skeptical of how effective Biden was, there was no such doubt on the part of liberal commentators, who were in high glee, in contrast to their funereal gloom when they thought Obama had thrown the election away last week. Quite a few polls indicated and at least one focus group thought that Joe Biden had won the debate.
But I do not intend to suggest that Biden had the entire debate to himself. Ryan, the young and articulate vice presidential candidate, gave an impressive account of himself. He is a man who has a remarkable ability to retain facts which are essential to his purpose. During his presentation on Afghanistan, for example, he was careful to ensure that he praised the service of Biden’s son in Afghanistan. All in all, Ryan stands in sharp contrast to a generation of American Congressmen, few of whom seem to take their responsibilities as seriously as he does. Ryan has outlined several budgets on his own, which has ensured his rapid rise to the chairmanship of the Budget Committee of the United States Congress and the position of vice presidential candidate at the remarkably young age of 42.
I am not an admirer of Ryan’s political views because they are so troublingly right wing, based as they are on a deep-seated individualism. Ryan’s philosophy seems to stop just short of a kind of political Darwinism in which those who succeed have a right to rule over those who have failed. But one has to admire his grasp of economic issues and his courage to issue, from time to time, his Cassandra-like warning that unless the United States grasped the nettle and addressed its fiscal problems it will be consumed by them. He, to his credit, repeated this warning at the debate on Thursday night.
In opposing Ryan in the debate, Biden had several distinct advantages. He was facing a candidate who had articulated his views on a number of critical matters. There was a record Biden could attack. Biden took aim at this record and on occasion made telling points to Ryan’s distinct disadvantage. But Ryan did not resile from his conservative record on this occasion, unlike Romney who seems to have, in the words of one American political operative, more positions on a single question than the Kama Sutra.
A word on Ryan’s political tenacity as this is likely to be of some importance in this campaign and beyond. During an address to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) last week, Ryan made his way through his presentation even though he was booed at the very beginning. This tenacity was on display as he defended his positions on taxes, the budget deficit, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. In making a defence on these questions, Ryan revealed a weakness. He is what the Americans call “wonky”. He has a love for statistics and in offering explanations on economic matters he can lose his audience as he makes his way through complex concepts. I think his presentations during the debate suffered from this defect. Also, he clearly does not have Biden’s grasp of foreign policy matters.
But one cannot conclude that Ryan lost the debate. In fact, one CNN poll made him the winner. The Republicans however must worry whether his stated positions on abortion and taxes might cause them some difficulties and possibly lose them some support as the election campaign draws to a close.
After Obama’s poor performance at the first debate last week, the Democrats and the supporters of that party hoped that a good performance by Biden would stem the momentum that the Republicans enjoyed in the polls last week. And the Republicans did enjoy a surge in the polls. Romney has moved ahead in the national polls and narrowed Obama’s lead in several “swing” states such as Ohio.
The question is whether Biden’s performance will translate into an arrest in Republican momentum. Many pundits are skeptical about this. Vice presidential debates have rarely had decisive impact on presidential election campaigns. However, there is a distinct feeling that the perceived outcome of this particular debate might serve to tilt the presidential race in one direction or another. Certainly, the Democrats are praying that it stops the “bleeding” after their disaster in Colorado.
