Greetings from Niagara Falls! I am away for a few days, but I had to put this up here.
This past week saw President Obama struggling with polls in ways that up until now had been reserved for Mr. Romney. The reviews of the debate between President Obama and Governor Romney got worse as the week went on. Sauntering from "Geez, I think Romney won" to "Obama just lost the election," it was hard to find a supporter who wasn't nervous. This was supposed to be easy, and it wasn't; worse? he did it to himself. It's been all tough talk, but maybe President Obama did make this harder on himself than he had to. He opened a door he didn't need to open, and it so doing, the idea of President Romney became visible. By letting people see only one presidential candidate, low-information voters have started to move away from him. Here's a great read about why Lindsay Lohan-eque voters will determine this election.
No worries though! Another week means another debate! This one was between the "veeps."
Last night, Vice President Joe Biden shook VP Hopeful Paul Ryan's hand and welcomed him to the arena. I believe that was the last civil exchange of the night. From that point forward, it was a fight. A fight filled with Biden laughing more than he should, and perhaps, Ryan not laughing enough. "Malarkey" became every Democrats' favorite word.
Reading the "day after" stuff has had me laughing! The general consensus? Biden won. Or maybe it was Ryan. No, wait....
What's the truth? Well, I think it was a tie.
Vice President Joe Biden has a bit of a reputation for being Crazy Uncle Joe. This is one time when this worked. Not to belabor the point, but every now and again, you love that your Crazy Uncle Joe will step out and say the things you wish you could. Biden was colorful, to be sure, but he was also substantive. It's easy to forget that at one point, Biden had his own hat in the race for President. ('88 & '08) He knew what he was talking about, but that wasn't what Crazy Uncle Joe was sent to do. Biden was sent to rally the base, again. It would be impossible to stop the hemorrhaging single handed, but a big band-aid would do just nicely. When Biden said "Facts matter!," an adoring crowd yelled "YES!" The beauty of this performance was that, as the Crazy Uncle, Biden can say things that President Obama cannot. He can afford the hits for laughing and throwing his hands in the air. He can look at Congressman Ryan and say "So you're Jack Kennedy now?" "Do you or don't you want another war?" And every time, no matter how inappropriate, we'll eat it up.
For vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, the requirements were different. I have to be honest and say that, while I think that Ryan is a very smart man, I expected he would be eaten alive. I think that Ryan held his own very nicely. I think that he seemed to know what he was talking about, even though he will (once again) be dogged by fact checkers. I don't think anyone watching the debates felt afraid of the idea of Ryan being "one heart beat away" from the presidency. My one major complaint of the night was Ryan's odd closing remarks. Please don't use the man you've labeled as the best and the brightest to be a pitch man. The final remarks are supposed to be your chance to redirect the message. Ryan sounded like a straight to camera Romney ad; the worst kind.
The night also generated more than a few fun memes. Here: have a giggle.
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