Home Tags Posts tagged with "debate performance"

debate performance

US vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan clashed sharply in their only debate, amid tightening polls ahead of the 6 November election.

Thursday night’s debate saw feisty exchanges on national security, the economy, taxes and healthcare.

Democrat Joe Biden was aggressive, frequently interrupting his rival as he defended President Barack Obama.

Republican Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan was comparatively calm in his first debate on the national stage.

The head-to-head came as Democrats try to rejuvenate their campaign after what was widely seen as a poor debate performance by Barack Obama last week.

The Republican challenger, former Massachusetts governor and businessman Mitt Romney, has gained steadily in the polls as a result.

The president has acknowledged he was “too polite”, and it appeared his campaign unleashed Joe Biden on Thursday night to attack Mitt Romney on taxes, government spending, the economy and other issues.

The vice-president repeatedly cut off Paul Ryan, chuckling, rolling his eyes and raising his hands in apparent exasperation, even as he referred to his rival as “my friend”.

But Paul Ryan seemed not to be rattled. His goal was to defend Mitt Romney’s recent gains against a renewed onslaught from Barack Obama, analysts said.

On stage at Centre College in Kentucky, the vice-presidential candidates jousted as moderator Martha Raddatz of ABC News sought to keep order.

The debate opened with an exchange on Libya, where a US ambassador was killed last month in what the Obama administration now calls a terrorist attack.

Joe Biden defended the Obama administration’s handling of the situation, as well as its initially inaccurate characterization of the incident as a reaction to an anti-Islamic video made in the US.

And he pivoted to attack Mitt Romney, saying the Republican’s decision to hold a political press conference the morning after the attack was “not presidential leadership”.

In one of many barbs, he said Paul Ryan’s criticisms of the administration’s handling of the crisis were “a bunch of malarkey. Not a single thing he said is accurate”.

Paul Ryan, meanwhile, said the administration had disregarded diplomats’ requests for more security in Libya.

And in a charge he repeated later, Paul Ryan said: “What we are watching on our TV screens is the unravelling of the Obama foreign policy.”

The men argued about Iran and the US relationship with Israel, but showed little substantive difference between their tickets’ respective policies.

“When Barack Obama was elected, [Iran] had enough fissile material – nuclear material to make one bomb,” Paul Ryan said.

“Now they have enough for five.”

Joe Biden said international sanctions against Iran had crippled that nation’s economy, and challenged Paul Ryan to clarify where Republican policy on Iran differs from the administration’s.

“So all this bluster I keep hearing, all this loose talk, what are they talking about?” he asked.

On the economy, Joe Biden said the president had inherited a nation teetering on ruin – a result, he said repeatedly, of the Republican policies of George W Bush.

And he defended the president’s remedies, especially a programme – that Mitt Romney opposed – to save US auto manufacturers from bankruptcy.

“We knew we had to act for the middle class,” Joe Biden said.

“We immediately went out and rescued General Motors.”

He added: “What did Romney do? Romney said, <<No, let Detroit go bankrupt>>.”

Joe Biden also unleashed a broadside against Mitt Romney’s recently publicized comments that the 47% of Americans who pay no federal income tax are dependent on government, consider themselves victims, and should take responsibility for themselves.

“I’ve never met two guys who are more down on America across the board,” he said, referring to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

Paul Ryan sought to deflect the attack with a story about Mitt Romney’s personal generosity and by referring to Joe Biden’s own record of verbal blunders.

He acknowledged Barack Obama had inherited an economy near collapse, but added: “We’re going in the wrong direction.”

He noted the continuing high unemployment rate and other grim statistics.

“This is not what a real recovery looks like,” the congressman said, promising that Mitt Romney’s tax plans would add jobs and promote economic growth.

Later, the two outlined their competing plans on the Medicare healthcare programme for over-65s.

Joe Biden defended the administration’s 2010 health insurance overhaul, dubbed Obamacare; Paul Ryan derided it as a government takeover of the healthcare industry and repeated a disputed assertion that Barack Obama had pulled money from Medicare in order to fund it.

With the election less than four weeks away, the rivals were tasked with keeping their respective campaigns competitive, as new polls suggest Mitt Romney has narrowed or erased Barack Obama’s lead in several key swing states.

The two candidates are virtually tied in Florida and Virginia while Barack Obama still leads in Ohio, but by a slimmer margin.

[youtube q03meg4NfxI]

Mitt Romney has raised $12 million in online donations over the last couple of days, and has also received a two point boost in the respected Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll after Denver debate.

The news comes as Barack Obama’s lacklustre showing continues to be mocked by top comedians – even those who are strong supporters of the President.

The poll shows Mitt Romney attracting support from 49% of voters nationwide, while President Obama earns the vote from 47%.

In addition, Mitt Romney’s campaign took in a donation haul of $12 million via his website in just 48 hours after the conclusion of the debate in Denver, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The bump in fundraising was even bigger than those recorded after the announcement of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Barack Obama’s healthcare law.

In addition, 60% of those donating online had never given money to the campaign before.

The increase in small contributions from first-time donors is a significant change for Mitt Romney’s campaign.

The former governor of Massachusetts has previously relied more on large donations from wealthy supporters, in contrast to Barack Obama’s grassroots network of givers.

Other indicators of campaign strength have also been promising for Mitt Romney – aides have reported seeing an upturn in the number of volunteers at offices around the country.

It is still too early to tell whether the aftermath of the debate will shore up the candidate’s position in the polls over the long run, but early signs are encouraging for the Republican.

Rasmussen polls showed Mitt Romney gaining a lead in Florida and Virginia, both states which he must win in order to have a realistic shot at the White House.

Barack Obama has been the target of political satirists ever since his disappointing debate performance – and the jokes do not seem to be letting up.

Jay Leno made a reference to the huge audience for the televised event during his talk show on Friday.

“They’re saying close to 60 million people may have watched the debate,” he said.

“In fact, the only person who didn’t tune in, I think, was President Obama.”

Comedian Bill Maher, a passionate Obama supporter who gave $1 million to a Democratic super PAC, also had harsh words for the President.

“It looks like he took my million and spent it all on weed,” Bill Maher said.

However, Barack Obama also had good news as it was revealed that he and the Democratic party had together raised $181 million in September, the most lucrative month of his re-election campaign,

The President’s fundraising haul topped the $114 million raised during the month of August.

He said in a message on Twitter that more than 1.8 million people donated in September, including over 500,000 who had not donated before in 2008 or 2012.

The $181 million was slightly less than Barack Obama’s record of $190 million in September 2008.