Showing His Teeth, Biden Spurs Debate on His Performance - New York Times [ournewsa.blogspot.com]

Showing His Teeth, Biden Spurs Debate on His Performance - New York Times [ournewsa.blogspot.com]

Question by Kayla B: What is another term for a "developed country" or "wealthier consumers"? I'm writing about the population that is well off and living in developed countries. What can I call these people? Best answer for What is another term for a "developed country" or "wealthier consumers"?:

Answer by Sexy B@$ t@rd
First world country

[country]

Les Jeudis Country

VIRGINIE CATALAN COUNTRY STYLE

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WASHINGTON â€" Thursday’s vice-presidential slugfest has quickly become a debate about Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s grin.

Mr. Biden’s smirking, emotional and aggressively sharp approach toward his rival, Representative Paul D. Ryan, prompted cheers from Democrats who had been desperate for the kind of in-your-face political rumble that President Obama did not deliver during his debate with Mitt Romney a week ago.

But Mr. Biden repeatedly mocked and interrupted Mr. Ryan in ways that led Republicans to use words like “unhinged” and “buffoon” and “disrespectful” in the hours after the fast-paced, 90-minute exchange ended.

The question by Friday morning: Did Mr. Biden go too far?

The answer was elusive, with early snap polls suggesting that most viewers were divided over who won the debate. History suggests that vice-presidential debates have rarely affected elections in big ways. And there are only four days until the next debate between Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney, leaving little time for the Biden-Ryan exchange to sink in with voters before it is largely forgotten.

Still, partisans on both sides moved quickly to seize on Mr. Biden’s performance as a moment that could affect the outcome of the presidential campaign in one direction or the other.

Jim Messina, the president’s campaign manager, said in a statement that Mr. Biden did what Democrats were hoping he would do, calling the debate a “clash between facts and conviction on one side and glib lines and empty promises on the other.”

That clash seemed to energize liberals. A commentary on Daily Kos, a liberal blog, concluded that Mr. Biden “delivered an eviscerating performance” and demonstrated “deep knowledge,” “huge heart” and “brutal honesty” during the debate.

“When all those three come together, you get what we saw last night,” Georgia Logothetis wrote on the blog.

But even as it fired up Mr. Obama’s supporters, Mr. Biden’s approach provided an easy opening for Republicans.

Tim Miller, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee helped kick off a drumbeat of criticism about Mr. Biden’s demeanor just minutes after the debate ended. He and other Republicans quickly began using the hashtag #BidenUnhinged on Twitter.

“You almost can’t blame Joe Biden for being so unhinged,” Mr. Miller said in a statement sent out from the rapid response department at the Republican committee. “It must be frustrating to debate when you have a record that is so hard to defend and not a single tangible plan for the 2nd term besides tax hikes.”

Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska who debated Mr. Biden four years ago as the Republican vice-presidential nominee, said on Fox News that he reminded her of “of watching a musk ox run across the tundra with somebody underfoot.”

Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, told Buzzfeed that Mr. Biden looked like “an arrogant Cheshire cat with a big smile.”

Mr. Biden’s facial expressions were captured on the split screen used by the networks. The reactions were quickly compared to Al Gore’s sighs while debating George W. Bush in 2000. Mr. Gore’s reactions caused him to lose that debate.

Kevin Madden, a spokesman for Mr. Romney’s campaign, called the vice president “terribly unsteady” and said that “his actions just reinforced all of the perceived negatives held by swing voters about him. The interrupting and smirking demonstrated a real lack of composure that folks look for in a vice president.”

But Mr. Biden may have been insulated to some degree by the mounting demands from Democrats over the past week that he make up for the lack of energy on display from Mr. Obama last week. If Democrats were looking for Mr. Biden to be animated, they certainly got their wish.

Hilary Rosen, a Democratic strategist and supporter of Mr. Obama, said Friday morning that Mr. Biden’s unforgiving approach toward his rival was an important part of motivating the Democratic base ahead of the election next month.

“I think for the base, much of this is theater,” Ms. Rosen said in an e-mail. “We know who we are for, but we need to see great performances because it help us spread the word that this is a ticket worth buying.”

“Joe Biden has a lot of passion,” Ms. Rosen added. “But he also has unparalleled foreign policy experience. I think he genuinely thought that Ryan’s attempts to nitpick and cast aspersions on the administration’s foreign policy was laughable.”

Republican strategists were quick to suggest on Friday that Mr. Obama should not need to be finding ways to motivate his strongest supporters with only three weeks until Election Day. Usually, campaigns spend the final weeks trying to woo independent voters who are still undecided.

“Ryan helped Romney with independent and swing voters,” said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist who managed Bob Dole’s presidential campaign in 1996. “Biden helped himself some and the dental industry promote toothy grins.”

Mr. Obama’s biggest challenge may now be the next debate with Mr. Romney on Tuesday in New York. The president must somehow thread the needle between the first two debates â€" demonstrate more energy than he did in the first one while avoiding the kind of sometimes sneering performance that Mr. Biden delivered.

Mr. Obama on Friday headed to Williamsburg, Va., for a weekend of debate study and preparation ahead of the debate next week. Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney will participate in a town-hall-style debate moderated by Candy Crowley of CNN.

Mr. Romney held a mock debate session with Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, on Thursday morning before heading to the Grove Park Inn in North Carolina.

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