Biden vs. Ryan - the grades

Welcome back to our political communications professor Allan Louden of Wake Forest University, along with his students, who are here to break down last night's vice presidential debate. 

Louden, a national champion debate coach who has worked with politicians such as Elizabeth Dole, graded speeches and debate performances for us in 2008. His analysis was one of our most popular features at the O during the 2008 election, and this year, he's added a student perspective.

So how did Joe Biden and Paul Ryan do? Louden goes first, followed by his students, followed by their final grades. 

Louden:


The 90 minutes of  “political enlightenment” emanating from Kentucky was a distinctly unpleasant experience; having that uncomfortable feeling of witnessing friends bicker, showing disregard. Vice Presidential debates have the power to overshadow the main events, as when Cheney and Lieberman met on the same stage in 2000, or Benson evoked Kennedy in Omaha. This debate felt like the warm-up act, uplifting Obama and Romney as heads of the ticket.

So what happened? Who won?

The debate likely will be remembered as largely a draw, each candidate resonating with their base, each confirming voter’s shared sense of persona, each having moments, but also disappointment; all within a very short media cycle

It could be credibly observed that debate winner and the debate loser was the same person, Joe Biden. Biden animated enough to perhaps stem the campaign drift, but he embarrassed with paltriness seemingly unfit to his office. He was more aggressive, often interrupting, animated to the point of crossing from impolite to insolent. He split his time between sounding knowledgeable and disgorging political claptrap. He flexed from calm reason to scolding father.

Ryan did not lose, holding the line, raising doubts, all without gaffes; crossing some threshold. But neither did he win, sounding too often the exponent of partisan frames, competent but not fresh. It is possible to get bored midstream in an answer, even as it demonstrates the source’s knowledge. Ryan remained wonkish even when wrapped in personal stories. He stood his ground, but seldom surged to a memorable tenor.

In most debates there are flashes when we’re rivited, when we forget our self-awareness that we are watching the debate. In this debate I was ever mindful of being an observer.

The students:

Lillis Hendrickson on the candidate’s response to the opening question on Libya:

The beginning of the vice presidential debate opened with a discussion on the death of ambassador Chris Stephen in Benghazi, Libya and the “massive intelligence failure” that it represented on the part of the United States. Biden began by asserting that the government is currently working to figure out who planned this attack and why, which he said is much more than Governor Romney’s action of “holding press conferences.” 

Ryan came back with an attack on defense cuts, drawing incredulous smiles and headshakes from Biden,  who dubbed Ryan’s assertions “a bunch of malarkey,” citing evidence of the end of the War on Iraq during Obama’s administration and the upcoming withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014.

Ryan tried to downplay his support of defense by reducing his position to that of “peace, democracy, and individual rights.” That sounds like something I’d be on board with, but it was undercut by his qualification that under Romney, troops in Afghanistan would be beginning their exodus in 2014. 

Overall, the candidates stuck to the question at hand, and answered each other on a fairly point-to-point basis.

Brandon Ng on the discussion of Iran and Foreign Policy:

As soon as moderator Martha Raddatz introduced the topic of Iran into the debate, both Ryan and Biden came out swinging. On the issue of preventing Iran from amassing and constructing weapons of mass destruction, Ryan immediately questioned Obama’s “watered down sanctions” on Iran and claimed they were closer to possessing nuclear weapons because of Obama’s policies. He worked very hard to discredit Obama’s foreign policy by hammering the point that Obama has not protected Americans who are overseas, and allowed Iran to gain grounds on producing nuclear weapons.

However, Biden literally laughed off Ryan’s claims and aggressively and decisively maintained that the Obama government has not, and will not, allow Iran to posses nuclear weapons. While both candidates have been aggressive all evening, Biden’s passion was bursting from the seams, and his voice overpowered Ryan’s. He was comical and seems to be more at ease than his counterpart, Paul Ryan. While both represented their sides well, I give Joe Biden the unanimous decision over Paul Ryan.

And bringing it back to domestic policy, April Walsh responds to the candidates handling of Medicare and Social Security: 

The Medicare/ Social Security issue remains a hot topic. Paul Ryan attempted to show how the Obama Care board will not only be a waste of time and money, but also energy and human lives. Ryan claimed that the qualifications for the board don’t even include past medical training. To further persuade the audience, Ryan claimed that money for Obama Care is taken from Medicare and will continue to do so each year. The fact checkers must be going crazy. 

Joe Biden retaliated by stating that Republicans don’t even like Medicare. Biden continually tried to turn the discussion to a matter of trust. Who do we trust to take care of our health: Romney’s voucher or Obama’s board?

Undoubtedly, the strongest responses from the room were after Vice President Biden’s use of the word, “malarkey,” and his statement to Mr. Ryan, “Oh, so you’re Jack Kennedy now?” The tone reflected a curious mix of disbelief and humor in the tone Biden used toward his opponent. The constant smiles and chuckling created a rather peculiar mix of policy and heckling at times, but at the end of the 90 minutes, both candidates crafted strong points and held their ground. 

Perhaps the strongest moments of the debate were at the end, when Martha Raddatz questioned the candidates about their religious beliefs, and finally, after one 90 minute presidential debate, and another 83 minutes of the vice presidential debate, women’s issues were finally approached. The stage has been set for the second and third debates now, with Biden creating momentum for the president after his dismally quiet performance last week, and new issues have been introduced that will undoubtedly be addressed in the next two weeks.

Grades: 

Vice President Biden: A-

Congressman Ryan: B+

Contributors: April Walsh, Brandon Ng, Lillis Hendrickson, Jessica Pic, Dr. Allan Louden.