I kid you not. The Democrats are counting on VP Joe Biden to reverse their slide after President Obama disastrous shellacking by Mitt Romney:
Now, with his debate against Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan coming up on Thursday, Biden is under pressure to help President Barack Obama's campaign recapture the momentum it enjoyed before Obama was outmaneuvered by Republican rival Mitt Romney last week in the first of their three debates.
That debate trimmed Obama's lead in the polls and raised the stakes for the lone vice presidential debate, which also will be a national debut of sorts for Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman and budget specialist.
To quote the man himself, this is a big ****in' deal, and he's taking six days off to prep for it.
Biden will be hanging out with David Axelrod and other campaign advisers to get ready for the big night, Thursday, October 11th at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen is playing GOP VP candidate Paul Ryan in rehearsals.
The word is that Biden has an advantage because he's participated in debates on national TV before, while Ryan hasn't. Of course, that didn't stop Sarah Palin from making him look foolish last year, and she didn't have any national debate experience either.
But Paul Ryan isn't Sarah Palin and vice versa, so his lack of experience will definitely be a factor.
On the other hand, Ryan is scary smart, and as he showed last year with President Obama, like Mitt Romney he has a way of schooling the clueless without being obnoxious about it:
Biden, on the other hand, has a history of making ridiculous assertions that blow up in his face when challenged, and he's just likely to say something that can be looped in a political ad for our endless amusement.
I'm still disappointed Sarah Palin didn't jump on his assertion that America had 'kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon' during the last debate, which would have been must-see TV:
'Gee, Joe, when did that happen? When did we kick Hezbollah out of Lebanon? Can you give us a date, you being the foreign policy expert and all? Last time I looked, they were running the country.'
The debate might not get into foreign policy issues, which would be a plus for Biden. He's been dead wrong on almost every foreign policy question that's surfaced during his tenure in the Senate, including opposing the first Gulf War.
No, Biden will undoubtedly stick to talking points and the tired beating of the class warfasre drum.
Nevertheless, without wanting to raise people's expectations too much, I think Paul Ryan will do just fine in a face off with Joe Biden.
The very fact that Barack Obama picked someone like Joe Biden to be VP says a great deal about him, and I'm hoping voters come away with that same conclusion.
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