Well, the day Joe Biden has been dreading is upon us. I'm not talking about his next prostate exam. Indeed, given his role in the Obama Administration and the probable result of his frequent gaffes, a finger up the poop chute might be the highlight of his month by comparison. Of course, I'm referring to Thursday's Vice Presidential debate against Paul Ryan. The intellectual deck stacking here is so lopsided that I'm reminded of the Battle of Chancelorsville in 1863 where the Union forces outnumbered the Confederates by over 70,000.
After his boss' inept attempt at standing toe to toe with Romney, some might say the pressure is on Vice President Biden to pick up the Democrat flag and run with it. Likewise, Ryan is most assuredly feeling increased pressure to live up to the standard his boss set in the first debate against President Obama. All those aspects considered, I say advantage Biden. After all, expectations for Biden are about as high as President Obama's morale on the morning on October 4th. His gaffes won't really be a factor either. Everyone, especially the media and apparently his own boss give him a pass, saying "oh, that's just Joe." I can only imagine the vitriol Romney or Ryan would have been subjected to had they made the "they gonna put y'all back in chains" comment.
Despite my previous post on this topic, I'm not completely convinced this will be a cakewalk for Ryan. While Ryan is clearly a brilliant financial thinker with a youthfully sharp mind and a firm grasp of the issues, Biden possesses decades of public service and has experience from dozens of high profile debates. Recent gaffes aside, he is clearly more comfortable off prompter than is President Obama. I remember when an older and wiser (albeit different) Ryan delivered a beating to a younger, cocky, and probably stronger Robin Ventura. When I replay the video of that famous baseball clash in my head, the age and treachery versus youth and skill analogy comes to mind. It should be on Paul Ryan's mind too. Another thing that comes to my mind is the fact that despite the Union and Confederacy soldier counts in the Civil War battle mentioned above, the Confederacy won that one.
After his boss' inept attempt at standing toe to toe with Romney, some might say the pressure is on Vice President Biden to pick up the Democrat flag and run with it. Likewise, Ryan is most assuredly feeling increased pressure to live up to the standard his boss set in the first debate against President Obama. All those aspects considered, I say advantage Biden. After all, expectations for Biden are about as high as President Obama's morale on the morning on October 4th. His gaffes won't really be a factor either. Everyone, especially the media and apparently his own boss give him a pass, saying "oh, that's just Joe." I can only imagine the vitriol Romney or Ryan would have been subjected to had they made the "they gonna put y'all back in chains" comment.
