Who Won the Debate: Biden vs Ryan Debate Full Results, Analysis, and Recap

Impact

Biden and Ryan are prepping for the debate

On Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden will face off against Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s VP nominee. A week after a “masterful theatrical performance,” by the Republican presidential nominee, Ryan will certainly try to replicate Romney’s performance in order to maintain the momentum that the Republican ticket is having in the wake of the first presidential debate. On the other hand, a strong debate by Biden could give a boost to the president, thereby helping Barack Obama regain control of the presidential race. Hence, the stake for this debate between Biden and Ryan could not be higher. Encourage you to follow along live for more updates during the vice presidential debate.

Obama has been maintaining a healthy lead in the presidential race following the Democratic national convention. Even more importantly, the president had been ahead in most of the swing states, particularly in Ohio. No Republican candidate has ascended to the presidency without carrying the Buckeye State. Latest polls from Real Clear Politics, however, show that the race is tightening in those battleground states. This narrowing in the swing states increases the importance of the vice presidential debate.

Biden had a long career in public service. He got elected to the Senate at the tender age of 29. He has been in the spotlight for decades. In fact, he ran for president both in 1988 and 2008. Therefore, he has been in numerous debates, including one against Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate in the last presidential election. Ryan, on the other hand, has spent his entire career in the House of the Representatives. Although he has been the chairman of the budget committee, which is an important position, it is his first foray on the national stage.     

Over the course of the campaign, both Romney and Ryan have been unable, better yet unwilling to identify the cuts that they plan on making in order for their tax proposals to add up. Instead of spelling out what he wanted to slash during the debate, Romney denied that he has proposed a $5 trillion tax plan. Ryan could well pursue the same strategy in the debate against Biden. Hence, he would be incumbent upon Biden to not allow Ryan to obfuscate this salient point by forcing him to clarify what programs Romney and him intend to slash. 

Biden has been known to be verbose, and he has committed some “gaffes” on the campaign trail. Thus, the media would be looking for anything that might be perceived as a gaffe during the debate. However, Biden could manage to do what the president failed to do against Romney by nimbly forcing Ryan to identify the exact cuts that the Republican ticket would slash. Equally important Biden could ask Ryan to explain the virtues of his voucher plan to the public.  

PolicyMic will be covering the presidential debate live. For live updates, bookmark and refresh this page.

10:31 Biden closing would connect with those that Romney and Ryan consider are moochers.

Ryan closing: a reprisal of his stump speech that overlooked what has been accomplishing by the president during the four years of his presidency.

10:28 For the record: The president promised that he would pursue Bin laden and he did; the president promised he would pass health and he did.

10:22 Who is winning the debate:

 I think that Biden has a strong performance and spells out the policies of the Obama adminnistration and convey the big picture to the public.

Ryan shows that on foreign policy despite the tough talk by Romney, he has no major policy different with the Obama administration.  But when it comes to abortion, it seems clear what he would want to do if he gets the chance.

10:17 Ryan seems to be an absolutist when it comes to abortion

10:10 Ryan does not know that Russia has a veto power in the United Nations and Russia has it not because of Obama.

9:57 So there is no difference between the president's policy and Romney? Here's the question Ryan: Does Romney want to stay longer? Ryan does not spell out Romney's position.

9:52 Now, you are Jack Kennedy. The statement of the night so far 

9:05 Good summary of the president's foreign policy by Biden

8:09  This is what I think Biden should do to win the debate. Feel free to let me know what you

 7:48 According to the National Review, a few supporters of Ryan are worried that his “youth and upbeat voice” might be a problem because he might appear that he is not yet ready to be president

7:21 Michael Tomasky has advice for Joe Biden

7:21 Michael Tomasky has advice for Joe Biden

 7:05 Paul Wadman discusses the weaknesses of Pa7:21 Michael Tomasky has advice for Joe Biden

 6:47 According to Politico, Ryan wants to be called Mister, not congressman

UPDATE: 6:07PM New polls shows that the race is tightening; tonight's debate could give a big boost to the president's campaign.