I am currently in the Middle East and so had the opportunity to see the VP debate 'live'. Some observations.
Generally this was a good debate - arguments were put forward and countered and so on. I have seen that some commentators have referred to Joe Biden's interruptions as rude. I am not so sure. I would classify them as dis-respectful. He doesn't come across as naturally rude (but I suppose he wouldn't).
There were four substantive issues - Health/Medicare, the Economy, Foreign Affairs and Abortion.
Health/Medicare - I won't pretend to understand the minutiae of this issue but I didn't hear Biden offering a strong defence of 'Obamacare' nor refuting Ryan's claim about the double counting of spending or showing savings on one programme and then shifting the same funds to another. Maybe he spent time at the feet of the multi-times spender Gordon Brown? GB managed to spend and spend but (fortunately) some of the promised spending was simply the same promised money, again and again.
The Economy - Got less attention than I expected, given the at best anemic 'recovery'. Ryan is obviously strong on this and did land punches on the '43 months of greater than 8% unemployment' but I guess his strongest point here was the emphasis on where employment growth will come from - the small business throughout the USA - and the need to reduce the tax burden on these. Biden's response of trying to paint hedge fund companies as small companies looked a little desperate.
Foreign Affairs - Ryan defied expectations and was well informed on the topic (so no Sarah Palin moments) and projected a coherent strategy especially concerning the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Biden seemed to rely on the fact that the other international participants want out by 2014 and so the US approach is right - kind of a strange defence to me and the fact that withdrawal is so fixed must surely undermine the talks that are taking place with the Afghan Taliban.
Abortion - Both are practicing Roman Catholics but though they each claim that their politics and integrity is shaped by their faith, Biden seems to have a very liberal view of that shaping, as it comes to abortion. Ryan put forward a compelling argument for a review of US abortion legislation, when he spoke of such laws should be made by politicians following the will of the electorate rather than by unelected judges. They didn't touch on 'gay' marriage but Biden's very liberal views are in direct contrast to the traditional and staunchly Catholic views of Ryan.
One thread that ran through the debate was the respect and admiration that the 'middle class' have in the US psyche. In the UK, 'middle class' is almost a pejorative term whereas in the US this is aspirational.
Polls seem to suggest that Ryan narrowly 'won' the debate but you can expect the Obama-loving media to paint this as a draw.
Generally this was a good debate - arguments were put forward and countered and so on. I have seen that some commentators have referred to Joe Biden's interruptions as rude. I am not so sure. I would classify them as dis-respectful. He doesn't come across as naturally rude (but I suppose he wouldn't).
There were four substantive issues - Health/Medicare, the Economy, Foreign Affairs and Abortion.
Health/Medicare - I won't pretend to understand the minutiae of this issue but I didn't hear Biden offering a strong defence of 'Obamacare' nor refuting Ryan's claim about the double counting of spending or showing savings on one programme and then shifting the same funds to another. Maybe he spent time at the feet of the multi-times spender Gordon Brown? GB managed to spend and spend but (fortunately) some of the promised spending was simply the same promised money, again and again.
The Economy - Got less attention than I expected, given the at best anemic 'recovery'. Ryan is obviously strong on this and did land punches on the '43 months of greater than 8% unemployment' but I guess his strongest point here was the emphasis on where employment growth will come from - the small business throughout the USA - and the need to reduce the tax burden on these. Biden's response of trying to paint hedge fund companies as small companies looked a little desperate.
Foreign Affairs - Ryan defied expectations and was well informed on the topic (so no Sarah Palin moments) and projected a coherent strategy especially concerning the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Biden seemed to rely on the fact that the other international participants want out by 2014 and so the US approach is right - kind of a strange defence to me and the fact that withdrawal is so fixed must surely undermine the talks that are taking place with the Afghan Taliban.
Abortion - Both are practicing Roman Catholics but though they each claim that their politics and integrity is shaped by their faith, Biden seems to have a very liberal view of that shaping, as it comes to abortion. Ryan put forward a compelling argument for a review of US abortion legislation, when he spoke of such laws should be made by politicians following the will of the electorate rather than by unelected judges. They didn't touch on 'gay' marriage but Biden's very liberal views are in direct contrast to the traditional and staunchly Catholic views of Ryan.
One thread that ran through the debate was the respect and admiration that the 'middle class' have in the US psyche. In the UK, 'middle class' is almost a pejorative term whereas in the US this is aspirational.
Polls seem to suggest that Ryan narrowly 'won' the debate but you can expect the Obama-loving media to paint this as a draw.
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