Sunday, 19 May 2024

Still smiling, Joe? a large investment by the dentist?

peter g. evans By peter g. evans | October 13, 2012 | United States

From the beginning the debate had started as if Senator Joe Biden would deign to grant a bit of his precious time to the young Paul Ryan and to all of us in front of the TV screens (only a few million of people!)

All waiting to see, after the previous debate Obama / Romney, failed miserably for Obama, who would have scored points and especially  who would have gave the impression of greater reliability as vice president  in the next four years in the White House.

Joe Biden, a person of a certain age, Senator, good looks, seemed the most  reliable but ... already only after a few minutes he started to show his sneer as he spoke of the war and the military, the subject of which certainly no one could even smile, he showed the world his true personality.   His performance ran a very high risk of being seen as bullying and condescending,  as when a group of boys the most  old  bully the most  young.  He treated Ryan as if he were a child being taken to play in the room of the "Buttons".

I believe that a person must to show respect for  any other individual, was also the last of the last, and it was the lack of respect that Senator Biden has shown to Ryan and to the millions of others who would listen him, that worries me. The power that be in the head.  It 'a point of no return ... when a person believes to be superior to all others and he think not have to explain more  nothing of what he does.   He thought to mock of Ryan and all us.

The same mistake he made Mr. Obama, he was not able to separate his being President of the United States from His being Competitor for the office of President of the U.S. and then he was nervous and angrily to the point that he was  not  more able to respond and propose solutions.

However Joe Biden has been left with little to smile about after the latest Rasmussen tracking poll found that Mitt Romney has overtaken President Barack Obama.  The poll, released yesterday  but conducted before Biden's hectoring, smirking debate clash with Paul Ryan, is the latest indication that Romney's gains after his strong debate performance mark a shift in the U.S. presidential race rather than merely a temporary bounce.

Biden's performance has done little to dent Romney's advance in the latest Gallup daily national tracking poll with Romney on 49 per cent and Obama on 47 per cent,  unchanged from Thursday’s poll.

Veteran columnist Peggy Noonan described Biden as "weirdly aggressive".   She wrote that the Vice President was "disrespectful and full of bluster", and concluded: "Biden was so childishly manipulative that it will be surprising if independents and undecideds liked what they saw".

The big question in the next few days will be whether his brutish display will turn around or even hurt the Obama campaign, which has been struggling ever since the President's limp performance during last week's presidential debate in Denver.

CNN's Gloria Borger agreed with that analysis, saying: "He was condescending at times to Paul Ryan. I think I could have done with a lot less eye-rolling and chuckling on the part of Joe Biden"

A CNN poll of debate-watchers put Ryan ahead by a small margin, with 48 per cent naming him the winner against 44 per cent saying they preferred Biden.

A CBS poll showed the advantage going the other way, however, with 50 per cent of undecided voters judging Biden as the winner and 31 per cent backing Ryan.

In the Washington Post, Chris Cilizza argued that the bravura performance could backfire as the Vice President "bordered on bullying Ryan"."Biden's derisive smiles and laughs while Ryan tried to answer questions weren't great optics for the Vice President and his repeated interruptions won't make those who think politics should be more civil happy" he wrote.

Commentators on Fox News were (perhaps unsurprisingly) even more dismissive of Biden - anchor Chris Wallace said, "I don't believe I've ever seen a debate in which one participant was as openly disrespectful of the other as Biden was to Paul Ryan tonight".

Brit Hume added: 'It looked like a cranky old man to some extent debating a polite young man.'

Greta Van Susteren also pitched in, saying, "The smiles, the sneers... it made Vice President Joe Biden - someone who I typically like - I thought he was very unlikeable".

Mike Huckabee had perhaps the most stinging attack of all as he accused Biden of behaving like "an obnoxious drunk", adding: "He just is the kind of guy you want to get away from as quickly as you can and go find someone else to talk to".


  • Tags:   Senator Joe Biden Paul Ryan debate TV screens million people Obama Romney vice president White House good_looks war military smile personality performance bullying condescending group boys child room Buttons respect individual lack President United_States Competitor solutions power head Rasmussen poll hectoring smirking Gallup daily national 49% 47% Thursday Veteran Peggy_Noonan weirdly aggressive disrespectful childishly_manipulative surprising independents undecideds question Obama_campaign Denver CNN Gloria Borger debate-watchers 48% winner 44% CBS_poll 50% 31% Washington Post Chris Cilizza politics Commentators Fox News Chris Wallace Brit Hume Greta Van Susteren smiles sneers Mike Huckabee obnoxious_drunk
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