Biden versus Ryan

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PHOTOS BY DAVID GOLDMAN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden appears to appeal to the heavens in his debate Thursday night with Republican vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan. They went head to head (below) at Center College in Danville, Ky. (CP)

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DAVID GOLDMAN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden (left) and Republican vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan go head to head in the 2012 vice-presidential debate Thursday at Center College in Danville, Ky. (CP)

WASHINGTON -- The jabs flew early in the U.S. vice-presidential debate in Kentucky on Thursday as Joe Biden, President Barack Obama's gaffe-friendly No. 2, squared off against Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's ultra-conservative running mate with a new-found reputation as a man who stretches the truth.

Apparently keen to avenge his boss following Obama's dismal debate performance last week, Biden came out swinging in a manner the president did not in his own showdown in Denver.

"With all due respect, that's a load of malarkey... not a single thing he said was accurate," Biden said following Ryan's criticism of the Obama administration's handling of the eruption of anti-American violence in Libya.

Four Americans died in last month's violence, including Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya.

The vice-president forcefully defended the administration's public comments on the Libyan crisis, saying White House officials were guided by the information they were receiving from the intelligence community as events unfolded.

He also noted Obama promised to end the war in Iraq and did so, and that he made it a top priority to pursue Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Romney, on the other hand, once said he wouldn't move heaven and Earth to get the al-Qaida kingpin, Biden pointed out, and that U.S. troops should remain in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Laughing with disdain at times, Biden attacked Ryan's insistence that Obama's weakness on foreign policy has contributed to Iran's determination to develop a nuclear program, potentially for use against Israel.

When Iranians see the U.S. put daylight between America and Israel, Ryan said, it encourages them.

"A Romney administration will have credibility on this issue," Ryan said.

"That's incredible," Biden sneered, pointing out U.S.-fuelled economic sanctions were crippling Iran. "Iran is more isolated today than when we took office... Iran is totally isolated."

Vice-presidential showdowns don't generally generate much buzz or carry high stakes. But amid the roller-coaster ride of the 2012 campaign and the aftermath of Obama's lacklustre debate performance last week in Denver, the Biden-Ryan showdown could be pivotal.

Biden, Democratic insiders say, was looking to throw a lifeline to the suddenly struggling Obama re-election campaign.

Ryan, on the other hand, was hoping to give Romney's suddenly surging campaign yet another shot in the arm with less than a month until the Nov. 6 vote.

Both men spent weeks in intense debate preparation, working closely with aides and colleagues to hone their skills.

Biden, a longtime senator before he became vice-president, has decades of debate experience and was widely considered the victor in his first vice-presidential debate four years ago against Sarah Palin.

Ryan doesn't have that type of high-profile debate experience, but he's a good speaker and well-versed in the issues, unlike Palin in 2008.

"We know each other. We've gotten along quite well over the years," Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman, said of Biden in a pre-debate interview with CNN. "I like Joe personally quite a bit; I just disagree with his policies."

Obama had this advice for Biden: "I think Joe just needs to be Joe," he told ABC's Diane Sawyer on the eve of the showdown.

Earlier this week, the president predicted Biden would "be terrific."

The 90-minute clash pitted two men of different generations and widely divergent political philosophies against one another.

Biden, 69, has long been a passionate defender of the American social safety net. Ryan, 42, is an Ayn Rand aficionado who has proposed deep budget cuts and turning Medicare, one of America's most cherished entitlement programs, into a privatized voucher system.

They were also the first two Roman Catholics to square off in a national political debate, although the strains of Catholicism they each embrace are also starkly different.

Biden is pro-choice and in favour of same-sex marriage. Ryan is avidly pro-life and opposes gay matrimony. The Washington Post dubbed the Kentucky debate as the "Catholic Thrilla in Manila."

Romney surprised pundits in August when he tapped the socially conservative Ryan as his running mate, given he was expected to opt for a more moderate No. 2. Ryan's Medicare proposals were expected to cause Romney trouble in the crucial swing state of Florida, home to millions of seniors.

Ryan was also harshly criticized -- mostly by liberals, but also by some conservatives -- for his speech to the Republican National Convention in Tampa in late August. Some of his allegations against Obama during his remarks were significantly exaggerated.

Biden has caused the administration some occasional moments of embarrassment, most notably in May, when he came out in strong support of same-sex marriage. That was at odds with Obama's stance at the time and was thought to have forced the president to announce his change of heart earlier than planned.

As debate day dawned, debate-related titters and taunts were already in full force. Time magazine opted to publish photos of Ryan lifting weights, shot late last year. Wearing a backwards baseball cap and sporting a goofy look on his face, the photo collection soon went viral was ridiculed on social media.

Shortly after Time published the workout photos, the Twitter account @PaulRyansBicep was born.

"Fact check this: I can bench press more than you," one Tweet read.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 12, 2012 A22