Democrats are lauding him and Republicans are condemning him for his boorish, petty behavior and his constant interruptions. These debates are supposed to be about an exchange of ideas, giving the voters a chance to see where each candidate stands and to hear a rebuttal about what the other side is proposing. Vice President Biden seemed to be working against that. Then it hit me. Of course he is. This was a contrived performance. Joe Biden was an actor on stage. In the high stakes situation for the future of America, Joe Biden chose to become Alec Baldwin.
An acting performance by the man next in line to lead the free world. How else do you explain the complete lack of civility and decorum, the dismissive laugh, and Biden’s extra large Polident smile from the very first answer Ryan gave? Every mannerism was meant to convey the idea that Ryan was not to be taken seriously. It was evident in Biden’s condescending way in which he called Ryan “my friend”, his cartoonish waving of his arms, and the ever-present interruptions.
Why this performance and why now? He didn’t use this tactic with Sarah Palin four years ago. There are three reasons why Biden used every arrow in his quiver to try to paint Ryan as a liar, insincere, and wrong.
The first is that the Obama record on foreign policy and the economy is dismal. Facing someone who is as knowledgeable about the issues as Paul Ryan is, scares the Obama team to death. Towards the last part of the debate Biden challenged Ryan’s plan to cut tax rates and preserve middle class deductions at the same time. Biden says it’s not mathematically possible. Ryan says it is and begins his explanation by listing those administrations that have done it in the past. When he mentions Kennedy, Biden says “So now you’re Jack Kennedy?” Nice zinger, but the point was to derail Ryan’s rebuttal. It worked and Ryan never finished his explanation. And it was that way the whole debate. Every chance Biden got to stop Ryan from explaining the Romney/Ryan position, he took.
Reason number two is their record. Unemployment finally dipped down to the same level it was when Obama took office, gas prices have nearly doubled in that time, five trillion more in debt, the failed stimulus, the unpopular ObamaCare legislation, going around Congress to take out the work requirements for welfare and to give amnesty to 30 year old “children” of illegal immigrants, the doubling of the number of people on food stamps, our Libyan ambassador was killed, Obama’s Hot Mic incident with Russian