Baby Talk

Wherein we (actually just I) live-blog the #2 debate.

Biden's objectives:

1. Redo#1. He's under pressure to show what would've happened had his boss been less polite last week. Specifically, he must make the "liar-Mitt" charge stick.
2. Go wonky. He can undo Ryan's geek image by discussing detail at his level. That's the easiest way for Biden to win the debate.
3. Mellow. He risks looking cantankerous next to Ryan. He did a good job of looking mellow next to Palin. Expect more.

Ryan's goals:

1. Parry More than with Romney last week, Ryan wins by drawing. A draw affirms the correctness of what his boss said last week.
2. Job Spring Focus on unemployment, Al Qaeda and healthcare.
3. Be natural Left to their own devices Ryan beats Biden.

What to expect:

1. Aggression: Biden's had his work cut out for him. He has to make Romney look like a liar. Ryan has to make Obama look like Jimmy Carter.
2. Specificity: Each will try to out-wonk the other. For those listening, this will be a battle of competence.
3. Violins: There'll be weepy stuff for sure.

Prediction: A Ryan win. This is only because Biden has such a large, defeasible task before him. Again, a draw is a win for Romney/Ryan.

A hush (and wives and coughing) fills the room.

They're off.

(An unexpected camera angle shows the anchor wearing a suicide-bomb-like belt)

00h00: Boom! The anchor kicks off with a Ryan gift, asking about Libya. Biden waffles off the script. Ryan rips into Obama.

00h09

Biden sees the wisdom in smirking through Ryan's answer.

00h10

Boom! Biden lays on the malarky. "Let me go back to Libya," quoth the anchor, after lengthy uhhming and ahhing from the veep.

00h20

If anything, Biden is refreshingly folksy. He's being goaded though. Ryan struggles with his words. Poor thing.

00h26

The 47% show up. Biden punches hard. Ryan hams up the violins. What happened to "managed bankruptcy?"

00h30

Ryan scores the first laugh. He's losing an easy thread though.

00h45

Biden hits hard on Medicare. There'll be no Democratic complaints about THIS moderator. The Biden filibuster rolls on and on...

00h58

The moderator is in over her head. She welcomes (again) the opportunity to move on.

01h06

Our moderator joins the debate. Back-and-forth with Biden on the nittygritty of civilian control of the army. Audaciously Ryan reinserts himself.

01h09

"It's a different country." In five words, Biden undoes the humanitarian basis of his boss's Libya strategy. Folksy has morphed (a while ago) into curmudgeony.

01h16

It's hard to say who won the foreign intervention piece. Biden looked firm (which translates into Hawkish) and kept his ground. Advantage veep.

01h19

Verdict: With help from the moderator, Biden won this one. It was a risky win, as it may not resonate with voters already disgruntled with the debate's tone.

epilogue

Biden authors a set of GOP ads "When I talk I say what I mean."