The Vice-Presidential Debate
Tonight the debate between the candidates for Vice-President from the two major political parties will take place in Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Vice President Joe Biden and Representative Paul Ryan will go head to head in the debate, which will begin at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 p.m. Pacific and which will be 90 minutes in length. The debate is sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates and will be modeated by Martha Raddatz, ABC News' Chief Foreign Correspondent.
The debate will cover both foreign and domestic topics and will be divided into nine time segments of approximately 10 minutes each. The moderator will ask an opening question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a discussion of the question.
As for the goals of the respective debate participants, these are summarized by Benjamin Knoll, an Assistant Professor of Government at the college hosting the debate as follows:
"For Congressman Ryan, this debate will provide several important opportunities. First and foremost, he will of course be looking to build on the momentum generated by Romney's strong showing at the recent Denver debate. He will be expected to double down on making the case for his ticket's vision of the appropriate role of government in the economy and American society. It is also an opportunity for him to display his "wonk credentials" in discussing the budget, taxes, and the deficit, especially given that it was a key source of disagreement between Romney and Obama in the first debate. Perhaps most importantly for his political future, however, Ryan will have the opportunity to repair some of the damage to his reputation as a "straight-shooter" that was caused by his performance at the Republican National Convention, which was widely deemed by independent fact-checkers as a little less-than-factual.
For Vice President Biden, the pressure is high to halt the Romney-Ryan debate momentum. I imagine that he will attempt to compensate for President Obama's passive performance last week by being all the more eager to attack Ryan's (and Romney's) record and highlight the likely repercussions of the "Ryan budget" on a host of issues from Medicare to unemployment benefits to student loans. As the Obama-Biden ticket is now "playing defense" in managing public perceptions of the debate, he will want to do everything he can to change the campaign narrative. His biggest challenge will be to do this effectively while avoiding a major "gaffe," something he has been known for in the past.
For the rest of us, this is yet more Potus Geekery for those of us who revel in the spectator sport that is the politics of presidential elections. Speaking of which, how many of you actually watch these things?
For your amusement, I leave you with this graphic I found on the interwebs:
The debate will cover both foreign and domestic topics and will be divided into nine time segments of approximately 10 minutes each. The moderator will ask an opening question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a discussion of the question.
As for the goals of the respective debate participants, these are summarized by Benjamin Knoll, an Assistant Professor of Government at the college hosting the debate as follows:
"For Congressman Ryan, this debate will provide several important opportunities. First and foremost, he will of course be looking to build on the momentum generated by Romney's strong showing at the recent Denver debate. He will be expected to double down on making the case for his ticket's vision of the appropriate role of government in the economy and American society. It is also an opportunity for him to display his "wonk credentials" in discussing the budget, taxes, and the deficit, especially given that it was a key source of disagreement between Romney and Obama in the first debate. Perhaps most importantly for his political future, however, Ryan will have the opportunity to repair some of the damage to his reputation as a "straight-shooter" that was caused by his performance at the Republican National Convention, which was widely deemed by independent fact-checkers as a little less-than-factual.
For Vice President Biden, the pressure is high to halt the Romney-Ryan debate momentum. I imagine that he will attempt to compensate for President Obama's passive performance last week by being all the more eager to attack Ryan's (and Romney's) record and highlight the likely repercussions of the "Ryan budget" on a host of issues from Medicare to unemployment benefits to student loans. As the Obama-Biden ticket is now "playing defense" in managing public perceptions of the debate, he will want to do everything he can to change the campaign narrative. His biggest challenge will be to do this effectively while avoiding a major "gaffe," something he has been known for in the past.
For the rest of us, this is yet more Potus Geekery for those of us who revel in the spectator sport that is the politics of presidential elections. Speaking of which, how many of you actually watch these things?
Do you plan to watch the debate tonight between the two vice-presidential candidates: Viice President Joe Biden and Representative Paul Ryan?
Yes
4(80.0%)
No I can't, but I would if I could
0(0.0%)
No
1(20.0%)
For your amusement, I leave you with this graphic I found on the interwebs: