Biden was at his best on foreign policy. He deftly handled Ryan's criticisms on
Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and defense spending, turning the issues back against
Ryan's contentions. Ryan's best
criticism was on Libya, the first item brought up by on-the-ball moderator
Martha Raddatz. Biden's answer that intelligence
was slow to come in may be true but lacked strength. After that Biden asserted mastery over his
younger rival. Ryan was for American
troops spearheading major new operations in eastern Afghanistan. Biden countered that after ten years it's time
for the Afghans to take the lead. Ryan
seemed to want to leave U.S. troops there indefinitely, based on
conditions. Biden assured a war-weary
American public that we will leave the country on schedule at the end of
2014. Ryan finally threw in the towel
and agreed his ticket would pull out by then, too. Ryan attacked again on Iran, accusing the
Administration of weakness. Biden said
the "toughest sanctions in the history of sanctions" were wrecking
the Iranian economy and that in the final analysis, in a clear threat of force
if necessary, we would not allow Iran to build a nuclear bomb. He asked Ryan if he wanted war and what he
would do differently. Ryan had no
answer. Ryan again attacked on Syria,
saying the Administration was wasting time going through the U.N., should be
arming the opposition to dictator Bashir Assad, and hinted about military
action. Biden countered that we are not
only using the U.N., that weapons are reaching the opposition and that we are
working closely with Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The implication that America is making sure
weapons are getting in through these other nations rather took the wind out of
Ryan's sails. Asked again whether he
wanted another American land war in the Middle East, Ryan beat a hasty retreat.
In domestic affairs, Biden brought up Mitt Romney's 47
percent comment and sharply defended against the spurious Romney critique that
Obamacare takes money from Medicare and against Romney-Ryan plans to voucherize
Medicare. He tellingly looked right into
the camera and asked the American people whether they trusted the party--the
Democrats--that created and has fought for Medicare and Social Security since
their inception to protect them, or would they rather turn that job over to the
other party--the GOP--who has never liked these programs and has always tried
to cut them. "Use your common
sense," he advised the American people.
Biden's defense of choice was also effective and should resonate with a
lot of women. After Ryan delivered his
ticket's position of a ban on abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to
protect the life of the mother, Biden said he accepted his Catholic Church's
teachings on the subject but felt he would not impose that view on others. He also held Ryan's feet to the fire on the
Romney-Ryan tax plan, pointing out that the numbers don't add up unless they
take away the home mortgage, health, and charitable deductions, or higher taxes
on the middle class, and demanded specifics.
When Ryan provided none, the moderator finally pointed that out and cut
him off, moving on to another topic.
The bottom line of this debate is that Biden delivered the
strong game the Democrats needed to stop the impetus Republicans gained after
last week's presidential debate, which many perceived as a lackluster showing
by President Obama. It should encourage
the Democratic base and reset the small undecided middle for presidential round
two next Tuesday. Tune in then for what
I expect to be the crucial showdown of the campaign.
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