Thursday, October 11, 2012

What To Expect InTonights Debate





Tonight, Republican VP candidate Paul Ryan goes up against incumbent VP Joe Biden in a debate that the Democrats are hoping will arrest President Obama's downward spiral. Here's what you can expect.

The moderator, ABC's Martha Raddatz will have been leaned on aggressively by both her peers in the media and her personal connections within the Obama Administration to 'moderate' aggressively in favor of Joe Biden by challenging Ryan and inserting Democrat talking points in an attempt to knock him off his game.She has the example of the beat down Jim Lehrer suffered by his leftist peers after the first Obama-Romney debate as an additional incentive. It remains to be seen whether she has decided to cave in to this pressure, but it's not unlikely.

In fairness, the fact that conservative pundits have raised the question my serve to have Ms. Raddatz over-correct in an effort to be fair in order to preserve her reputation as an independent journalist. In which case, raising the question of her possible bias was exactly the right thing to do.

The Obama Media will be looking at everything Ryan says with a microscope in an attempt to find anything at all that can be spun as a gaffe or error. They badly want this to be a Democrat win or at least a tie to help President Obama, and will call it as such unless Biden gives them nothing to work with and the results are obvious. Biden, on the other hand, will pretty much get a pass on whatever comes out of his mouth with an indulgent 'oh, that's just Joe' unless he commits a gaffe of serious proportions.

Biden will be aggressive right out of the box, attempting to interrupt Ryan and take control of the evening.Ryan's challenge will be to resist these attempts while maintaining his affability, using his own skills to take control and keeping his temper. Given what he's had to deal with in congress, that shouldn't be a problem.

Expect Biden to play elder statesman when the debate moves to foreign policy. Ryan's challenge here will be to demonstrate his knowledge in the area, steer the debate to recent fiascoes like Libya and remind the audience politely that this 'elder statesman' has been proven wrong on almost every major foreign policy question that's come before him since he's been in the Senate.

There's no question in my mind that Ryan can run rings around Biden when it comes to things like health care, taxes and domestic policy. Biden's tactic will be to try to come up with some folksy nonsense to demonstrate how he 'cares'. The vice president has been carefully briefed with talking points, but he lacks the deep understanding of the numbers and how they work on these issues. Ryan has them tattooed on the right side of his brain, and frankly, the Obama Administration's record shows just how badly they've performed in this area. If Paul Ryan can focus on that record, and if he can provide answers on how to fix it that the average American in his living room can understand, he will have won no matter how the pundits try to spin it.

As a bonus, when he's pressed or flustered, Joe Biden has a history in coming up with major gaffes, liker the one he committed against Sarah Palin when he claimed the U.S had 'run Hezbollah out of Lebanon.' If Paul Ryan hears one of these, he needs to underline it.

Biden has been around for forty years and participated in a number of public debates on the national stage. This will be Ryan's virgin outing, and a major challenge.He needs to convince America that if anything were to happen to Mitt Romney, he could take over the reins.

I have the feeling he's up to it, and if I'm right we may just witness the rise of a new GOP star tonight.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Biden should just cede all his time to Ryan, asking him exactly which deductions Romney plans to get rid of. Ryan couldn't even get through a Fox News interviewer without stumbling and he refuses to answer the question. I can't wait to see him fib his way through that question tonight.

Tantric Logic said...

Ha ha ha. Such a clever !##&! troll.

First of all genius, he didn't stumble, he just said it was a complex question that would take a lot of time to answer.

And anyone with common sense would understand that the answer to that question is going to involve some serious budget analysis, a look at the changing current tax code and some horse trading with Congress.

But then you don't have any common sense, do you? That's why you're voting Obama.

Tell you what troll. If Biden does what you suggest,I wanna see Ryan ask him how he became a multimillionaire on a senator's salary.

Amtrack and the credit card companies ring a bell?

louielouie said...

serve to have Ms. Raddatz over-correct in an effort to be fair in order to preserve her reputation as an independent journalist.

ROFLMAO
you slay me!!!!!
ROFLMAO

if i could ask brer biden one question:

slow joe, given the recent actions in libya, and this mornings action in yemen, and the on-going action of gun running operations by this administration that have killed over 300 mexican nationals, and two US border agents, my question is, just how many people, killed, does it take to get fired from this administration?

louielouie said...

it comes to things like health care, taxes and domestic policy.

my money says there won't be any questions regarding those subjects.

Anonymous said...

Tantric Logic -

Maybe you can answer, then. Which deductions and loopholes are going? It's not a 'complex question,' as you call it. It's a simple question that requires very little time to answer. And if you think asking a simple question that even interviewers on Fox News having been throwing at him is trolling, then you don't quite understand the concept. It's a simple question that he will get asked tonight and he will either lie or dodge (as he's done thus far). Be wary of any politician who dodges the way Ryan does. He's thinking about what to take from your wallet while he's stalling...

Tantric Logic said...

Having trouble with simple English comprehension, are we, A-ninny-muss?

Read this again and take notes: "the answer to that question is going to involve some serious budget analysis, a look at the changing current tax code and some horse trading with Congress."

Let me explain it slowly..real slowly. In order to see what deductions to x out, there's going to have to be some numbers crunching to see what deductions yield the most bang for buck, as opposed to their effect on the economy. A lot of Obama and Geithner's malfeasance has been hidden and isn't public, so talking about exactly what cuts in deductions President Romney might propose would just be stupid until he's fully aware of all the details.

Second, which of these cuts of deductions is likely to get be approved by congress, and what other changes to the tax code a new congress would approve is something Romney can't possibly know until after the election.

It's like asking him what he'd do to restructure a business before he's seen the full books.

Don't think I'm not aware of your bullshit. What you'd love is for Romney/Ryan to commit to something publicly and then have to back off it as new info emerges once they're in office. Or to give the Obama people something to selectively doctor crap up to use in attack ads before November.

Ain't no reason they should play your game.

I bet you weren't half that critical of Mr. Hope n' Change, who hasn't even submitted a budget that means anything but just keeps asking for a higher credit card limit.

Anonymous said...

Tantric -

While I appreciate the name-calling and Rob's decision to post such a condescending reply despite his stated goal of keeping his comment boards free of such trash, I have to point out that you're confusing the issue here.

Ryan claims that the budget plan they are proposing will cut taxes 20% across the board and yet remain revenue neutral by instituting tax deductions and loopholes. He therefore has already crunched the numbers and has already said that he knows which ones he's going after.

When asked what they are, he says he won't tell us until after the election. And the reason for that is because if he says what they are now, he'll lose votes. Simple as that. That's why Biden should push him on it tonight. Ryan should either fess up to what deductions he's talking about or he should stop with this fantasy story about a revenue neutral tax cut. One or the other, dude. It's reminiscent of Nixon's 'secret plan' and I wouldn't be surprised if Biden made an allusion to that tonight.

With more respect than you've given me,

'A-ninny-muss'

Tantric Logic said...

Awww. If the shoe fits, wear it A-ninny-muss.And respect has to be earned.

Lefties like you never understand that when you cut taxes, the pie grows.Thus more revenue.

They don't understand it because they don't want to, because that undermines their power by taking power away from the government.

My points are still valid is still valid...no way to determine exactly what deductions will be up for grabs until they see what they can get through the new congress and no reason for them to give any more fuel for Obama's lies and distractions.