High stakes, high drama!
You wanted it; you got it!
And–when it was over–what you also got was Paul Ryan, a rookie running for national office for the first time, outdebating Joe Biden, a sitting vice president.
From the first question–about the terrorist attack in Libya–Biden was put on the defensive.
He did the best he could to make Mitt Romney the target, but rarely succeeded.
He did a much better job of supporting President Obama.
I don't know what you made of Biden's big dismissive grins of disbelief while Ryan was talking, but, to me, they were rude.
I also thought Biden was too loud and too impatient.
Ryan–as promised–was a wonk, who knows the budget inside and out.
More surprising was his composure in the face of Biden's attacks, and his sense of humor.
So, I thought Paul Ryan won this debate.
He effectively criticized the president's performance. He was reasonable, and certainly not scary.
Ironically, despite their actual ages, I also thought Ryan was more mature than Biden.
This debate was all about the campaign dynamics following the Obama/Romney faceoff last week.
For me, it's easy to analyze:
For Democrats, Joe Biden didn't stop the bleeding
and for Republicans, Paul Ryan didn't stop the momentum.