Joe Biden's worst moment in last night's VP debate in terms of content came immediately, when his argument about the administration not knowing about security concerns at the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya last month was flatly contradicted from what was said at a congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday.
But after that exchange, he rallied and was aggressive in a way that that thrilled Democrats in combating proposals being brought forward by the Romney-Ryan ticket – until the last 15 minutes or so, when his voice grew deeper and slower, as if he had crashed from his caffeine or five-hour energy drink.
Paul Ryan more than held his own (especially on foreign policy) on the biggest stage of his political life, making no real gaffes.
But let's face it. Nobody is talking that much about the substance this morning. They're focused on style, and that was all about Biden's mugging, laughing, grinning and on occasion, interrupting.
Was it excessive? On occasion, yeah. As I tweeted last night, there were times where I was having a hard time concentrating on what the Wisconsin Representative was saying because of the brightness coming from Biden's white teeth on the left side of my screen.
But Biden, to use the hackneyed phrase, stopped the bleeding. He had a command of facts with him throughout the discussion, and had several really, really good moments where his passion and experience on issues of foreign policy, the "47 percent" and Medicare proved effective.
But Republicans have to be excited about how Ryan fared, especially on style, where he wasn't fazed by Biden's interruptions.
But let's face it, folks. In the 36 years that they've been in existence have never proven to be very influential. Next Tuesday night in Long Island is where all eyes will be back on Barack Obama to see how he reacts to the most negative reviews of his presidential term. There's no way that he can go as hot as Biden did last night. But how the public reacts to round 2 of Romney-Obama will have serious consequence about who will win this race in 25 days.
A Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald poll released yesterday shows Mitt Romney with a seven- point lead in Florida, matching a variety of polls released nationally and in the battleground states showing the Republican ticket getting a bump from last week's presidential debate. One of the most discussed national polls released this week shows a startling reversal when it comes to single female voters.
Former Florida CFO and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink was in Tampa on Thursday, leading a discussion of a new report from the liberal Center for American Progress that slams the Romney-Ryan budget.
And there's been lots of talk about unwieldy the ballot that all registered voters in Florida will be encountering when they go into the voting booth in the next few weeks, but is it really? The length of the ballot comes from the detailed explanations for the 11 constitutional amendments sponsored by the Florida Legislature. But CL editor David Warner (with assistance from the Collins Center) says you should just check "no" to all 11 items and be done with it all.
This article appears in Oct 11-17, 2012.