Though polls and pundits on both sides have their opinions on the outcome, it was a much closer debate than the first Obama Romney tete-a-tete. My analysis gives Ryan the win I predicted, but barely. The debate was close. CNN's poll judged the results as Ryan over Biden forty-eight to forty-four. I would call it closer, forty-seven to forty-five, a statistical tie. The edge, at that point, goes to the contender as the incumbent should have automatically polled higher.
One aspect of this debate rings significant. From the beginning, the moderator, Martha Raddatz, seemed to be leading Joey Biden, almost feeding him talking points. In contrast, her questions toward Ryan took a more accusatory tone. Lehrer, in contrast, was more balanced and professional. Martha unethically used her role as moderator to pontificate her own views on issues rather than sit as an unbiased referee for the competitors. Martha also diverted from the real issues, distracting into issues of religion and abortion. The truth is that the majority of Americans do not see abortion as a key issue for our country. Of course, this is what we have come to expect from the so called Mainstream Media.
Again, one major contributing factor to the debate scoring were demeanor and body language. Obama's looking down and appearing like a scolded child lost the debate for him as much as his inability to justify his poor record. Biden was much less a push over, to the point he came across, instead, as a playground bully. Bullies have no credibility with US Citizens.
Paul Ryan's closing remarks were the best part of the final segment of the debate.
On performance and appearance, Ryan remained calm and collected, even when confronted with remarks and evidence he was apparently not prepared to confront. In contrast, Biden was not prepared. He was angry. He was ill mannered and disrespectful. He was belligerent. He came across looking like a mobster instead of a Vice President. Biden interrupted Ryan between eighty-two and ninety-six times. (Reports from those who counted vary between those numbers). It was as though Joey forgot this was an election debate and thought filibustering was allowed. In the end, Biden complained that Ryan was given more time though the clocks displayed that Joey had over a minute more speaking time.
To recap, Biden nailed Ryan with the "stimulus letters". His opening few answers, though I disagree, were strong. Ryan was not as well prepared, and it showed, though he held his own. Biden's demeanor and composure didn't disappoint, though he didn't throw one of his classic tantrums. Biden tried to argue emotionally , attempting to claim Ryan was lying, but had no facts to support the contrary.
The moderator was less than professional. She used the debate as a platform to demagogue her own political agenda instead of moderating a debate over the issues of the campaign. Her bias was not veiled, but blatant. A better moderator would have been somebody who could have put personal political ideology aside and moderated from an objective, true journalistic point of view. This debate may have been more pertinent if it had been moderated by somebody like Jamie Dupree. If the commission is unable to find an objective moderator, then they should have used two, like Martha and somebody to balance her, like Sean Hannity or Neal Boortz.
There was no knock out. There was no TKO. This fight went all fifteen rounds and to the judges for decision. The decision was split. In the end, though, it wasn't so much that Ryan won. It was more that Biden lost. The final victor was Ryan.
For a more in-depth analysis including a play-by-play breakdown, please read P-G Matuszak's full article at Mental Aikido.
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