The 2012 VP debate: Biden takes down Ryan.

Biden struck fast, hard and, probably to the delight of those who count style points, won big.  To me, he drifted too much towards being a Mitt, and outright rudeness.  In other words, we can all now expect Republicans to condemn Biden for doing what Mitt did to Lehrer and Obama.  I hate it when they start talking over each other, period.  If you've got a point, be courteous and let the other side finish!

A debate should always be about ideas, not style.  Nonetheless, Biden took down Ryan, just based on the ideas.  Here are the highlights (from my viewpoint, that is):

• Biden directly talked to the screen, addressing retired seniors, asking if they thought they were doing better with Medicare today, than they were before Obamacare was passed, citing the closing of the drug doughnut hole.
• Paul Ryan came off as confused, not sure if Republicans were cutting or increasing defense spending, at one point.
• Pointedly, Ryan said that reducing the number Americans in Eastern Afghanistan -- the most dangerous part of the country -- was a mistake, putting those remaining lives at risk; Biden pointed out, Afghans should be in the front in the most dangerous areas, taking responsibility of their own country.
• Ryan could not pin down what litmus they had to draw down troops from Afghanistan, even though he directly agreed that 2014 was the right timeline; Biden made it forcefully clear that America is out of Afghanistan in 2014 and it's up to the Afghans to step up.
• Ryan complained that the US draw down in Afghanistan was ill timed, coming out ahead of the following fighting season (Spring  / Summer), but it clearly exposed a problem for Ryan, that he himself pointed out: there's always a fighting season next year.
• Biden pointed out that he has the letters from Ryan himself, asking for stimulus dollars, the same dollars Ryan now criticizes as a waste.
• Ryan said that Obama added trillions in debt; Biden responded with disbelief that the guy who voted for two wars would now change his mind about how to finance spending.
• Ryan said that Obama's policies haven't done anything to create jobs, while Biden countered with incredulity that Republicans pretend that the recession suddenly fell from the sky.
• Ryan got pinned by Biden on the issue of how to stop a war: You can't stop a war by threatening an attack.
• Ryan goofed.  He suggested that now, Iran was spinning centrifuges faster.  That's technically incorrect, because the centrifuges have to spin at a very specific speed; no faster, no slower.