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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Biden eats these kinds of things on toast, and Ryan is as ambitious as Satan."
A really good and enjoyable article by Charles Pierce in Esquire Politics, sizing up both Biden and Ryan in the VEEP debate tonight. Only about 7 paragraphs, well worth reading it all. Here's a snip...
...you know who really likes his job, and would like very much to keep it because he likes it so much?
Joe Biden, that's who.
Joe Biden is not riven with self-doubt. Joe Biden is not exhausted by the hurly-burly of politics. Joe Biden is not burdened by the weight of events and laid low by the constant battle against know-nothing obstructionism. Joe Biden is not going to take the stage tonight and find himself wishing he were anywhere else. I mean, god be good to him, as my gran' used to say, but Joe Biden actually likes all these silly performance pieces in which we insist he be engaged in order to stay vice-president. He revels in them. He would do ten of them a day, if he could. When I consider Joe Biden, and I look at the enthusiasm with which he throws himself into the various cataracts and torrents of hogwash that constitute our politics these days, I find myself looking at him the way I look at people who sky-dive or drive in demolition derbies. I have no idea why they do what they do, and I have absolutely no intention of doing it myself, ever, but, goddamn, do those people look like they're having fun.
So tonight, when Biden takes the stage to debate Paul Ryan, the zombie-eyed granny-starver from the state of Wisconsin, it is very unlikely that the debate will hinge on whether either man really wants to be there. Biden eats these kinds of things on toast, and Ryan is as ambitious as Satan. What the debate will test, however, is whether or not the zombie-eyed granny-starver can summon up or, more accurately, reconstruct the persona that was built for him through the years by dozens of credulous Beltway hacks...
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/vp-debate-2012-13609407#ixzz28zxKhFza
Interesting to note... Ryan was 2 years old when Biden was elected to the Senate. Joe has seen a lot of events, people, and ideas come and go by direct observation and involvement, and that will help a lot. He knows a lot of stuff! And he's tangled with the best of 'em. We have a very good chance to do well tonight.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)He's a Honey Badger.
Waiting For Everyman
(9,385 posts)When Joe is ready to jab and he smiles before he speaks... watch out!
PatSeg
(46,773 posts)That smile is sort of like the "kiss of death" and if often takes a few seconds to realize what happened! Poor Paul.
kalli007
(683 posts)Not as in dont give a shit about the people -- but referencing all the GOP BS and tactics. It would be awesome.
beac
(9,992 posts)Makes me every time!
Indpndnt
(2,391 posts)I can't help but[url=http://www.cosgan.de/smilie.php][img][/img][/url]every single time!
This is a close second, though! From the article: "Conservatism's mansion has many rooms, and almost all of them are padded." [url=http://www.cosgan.de/smilie.php][img][/img][/url]
Raster
(20,996 posts)"...Romney is so obviously a bag of hot air that they should string him up and float him through Manhattan this Thanksgiving."
"What the debate will test, however, is whether or not the zombie-eyed granny-starver can summon up or, more accurately, reconstruct the persona that was built for him through the years by dozens of credulous Beltway hacks who looked at a youthful Republican who wore shoes and didn't talk about how Jesus road to work on a diplodocus, who instead immersed himself in pie charts and flow sheets and, in doing so, had created for everyone a believable simulcrum of a Smart Person."
"Conservatism's mansion has many rooms, and almost all of them are padded."
AND FINALLY... Some of the reader's comments are worth the read themselves:
"First of all, Ryan is not a Smart Man, he just plays one in Congress. He talks fast, and an-nun-ci-ates, so media folks- accustomed to covering the likes of Louis Gohmert and Todd Akin- heap unwarranted encomium upon him. Walking and chewing gum are rare skills in todays gummint."
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)I am a strong Biden supporter this round, and I am amazed because usually it is the opposite, the candidate is usually more appealing than the office holder, but Joe has been a great VP, he speaks directly and without too much political bullshit. I have great confidence in him for tonight.
Raster
(20,996 posts)...that just happens to be Vice President.
To hell with ANYONE in the bush* family, Joe Biden is guy I want to have a beer with.
Give 'em hell, Joe! Slap Lyin' Ryan around the stage a few times, wipe the floor with his scrawny ass, and then throw the little piss-ant's carcass into the cheap seats for the plebes to gnaw on.
Tennessee Gal
(6,160 posts)Lucy Goosey
(2,940 posts)Pierce has become my favorite columnist/blogger of this election cycle, and this is a good illustration of why.
Love this bit:
I never would have thought to describe it this way, but he's completely right about the Vice President.
DinahMoeHum
(21,737 posts). . .shades of Al Smith.
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)... Mr. Biden will just utter gaffs and embarrassing sound bites.
That's the persona they've created for him. He will not step into that role.
meow2u3
(24,743 posts)Only on the stump--or from a hot mic--did he deliver his proverbial gaffes.
Ikonoklast
(23,973 posts)In a debate setting?
NEVER.
Underestimate this man's political acumen and debating skills at your own peril, because Sen. Biden will laugh as he slices your heart out and shows it to you.
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)Off the cuff? Once in a while.
*********
Uh... yous guys.... THAT WAS MY POINT! But still the GOP & MSM will (and do) try to push a "gaff ridden Biden" story.... false tho' it may be.
fadedrose
(10,044 posts)and he was questioning somebody nominated to serve in some office....can't remember who it was, but I always looked forward to his questioning more than anyone's....
porphyrian
(18,530 posts)Barack_America
(28,876 posts)Just like Clinton, he is an expert at using folksiness to cover a sharp wit. Not as skilled at communicating, but very smart and very savvy.
frylock
(34,825 posts)been looking forward to watching this.
kalli007
(683 posts)Best. Line. Ever.