Biden could be his own worst enemy in debate because it’s not 2008
Thursday, October 11, 2012 at 9:52AM 
Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan (right) in his Washington office. [Photo: Paul Ryan government website]Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan meet tonight in Danville (Ky.) for the only debate the two candidates will have. Sparring begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
The Democrat is sort of like the iconic Energizer Bunny—wind him up and watch him go. Biden will say anything and defend it regardless of accuracy.
In the 2008 debate with Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska), for instance, Biden claimed his running mate, Barack Obama, didn’t say he’d have a sitdown with Iranian despot Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “[S]imply not true,” Biden declared decisively.
Americans knew it was true. During his campaign, then Sen. Obama was asked if he would meet with the Iranian.
Obama said, "Yeah, nothing's changed with respect to my belief that strong countries and strong presidents talk to their enemies and talk to their adversaries."
That’s classic Biden—if you say something with authority, a percentage of people will believe you even if the facts prove you wrong. Biden is a politico, not a statesman.
Biden didn’t draw much heat in 2008 for gaffes, misstatements or outright untruths—he was riding the coattails of a popular orator who represented the first charismatic candidate Democrats had run for president since Bill Clinton.
Will Biden have a “put ya’ll back in chains” moment?
Will the moderator bring up national security leaks? After all, it was Biden who broke the Navy SEAL ethos by announcing to the world exactly who took down Osama bin Laden.
In 2011, when Democrats were talking debt in Congress, Biden allegedly called fiscal conservatives in Congress (aka Tea Party supporters and/or sympathizers) “terrorists.” Biden denied he said it.
Denial is pretty much Biden’s favorite tactic.
Self-contradiction is another. Biden has been at the forefront of the Democrats’ contraceptives obsession, casting himself as a champion of women’s reproductive rights. His record is another matter. Serving in Congress, he actually cast votes we would deem pro-life.
Biden has a long voting record in Congress—Ryan can easily exploit it.
Biden’s greatest vulnerability is his runaway tongue. Once he gets going, he gets into the moment and no one really knows what will come out of his mouth.
On Wednesday in Danville, Biden could just be his own worst enemy.
All Ryan has to do in Danville is stay steady. The Romney-Ryan ticket is on top and Americans are learning more about our absentee president and blustery Biden every day, not because play-possum media is telling you, but because a robust alternative media is thriving on the Web.
Two big vulnerabilities exist for Biden—foreign policy and federal spending. The Obama-Biden team has unglued North Africa and much of the Mideast and rained hundreds of billions of federal taxpayer dollars upon corporate cronies and unions. This administration has also given Americans a false impression of expanding threats from the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Whether the moderator will work to undermine those topics on the Democrat’s behalf is anyone’s guess.
Related at The US Report
Echoes from 2008: Republicans will be watching moderator closely during VP debate
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Biden says paying more taxes is ‘patriotic’, but he missed a basic budget tool
(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Oct. 11, 2011)