It's actually fascinating to me that some tradition or arcane system of selection was used in the past and still exists that has two of the men vying to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency meet in a town of fewer than 35,000 people. I wonder if it's decided upon some type of electoral "neutrality", or if somewhere in the past, Danville had a reputation for comely lasses who didn't mind entertaining a weary traveling politician after a difficult debate.
You never know.
I am live-Tweeting all of the debates this month, the next being the second Obama-Romney debate, this one town hall style and on both domestic and foreign policy issues. That takes place somewhere in New York state...again, in another town most of America is unfamiliar with. At least, I don't remember the name off the top of my head. So that's gotta mean something, right?
The Vice-Presidential debate was more contentious than the first Presidential face-off, with Biden dominating the conversation after he got warmed up, and throwing Ryan a little off-balance, although he held his composure pretty well. He also held an excessive amount of water by the end of the evening, as he kept going to that glass. However, I am well aware that many people on the Right would view Biden's aggressive approach in unflattering terms, and that was proven out in the aftermath.
My good friend, Dean Evans and I, talked about the debate the day after on the show. He is, admittedly, a big Joe Biden fan, and I kinda like the guy, too. I am also not a fan of either Romney or Ryan or the policies they seem to be proposing for the country. So, take my Tweets with a grain of salt. I have a bias, I am not voting for either candidate, but if I had to choose between the two, my choice would be to re-elect President Barack Obama. Therefore, I am critical of Ryan, and less so of Biden, although I do mention his trouble with numbers, losing his place during his talking points and more. I also credit Ryan when he gets laughs or holds his own.
One thing I also want to note: I don't fact-check a lot of the debate points, because I don't know all of the facts about everyone's voting records, Ryan's or Biden's. Occasionally, if it is a topic I am well-versed on, I will mention a larger point, point out an untruth if I'm really certain of it.
That being said, here were some of my pre-debate warm-up Tweets:
In keeping with long-established tradition (I did this in my last post), here is the complete Vice-Presidential debate, so you can "follow along" and better understand what I was Tweeting when I was Tweeting it.
It's still an incomplete art form, for me. It takes me away from fully focusing on the debate and sometimes causes me to be left in the dust as I'm Tweeting some smart-ass remark while the two guys on stage break out into Greco-Roman wrestling poses. But, I'm trying.
So, the video:
And the remainder of my Tweets (and a couple of reTweets), for the sake of posterity, such as it is:
And that was pretty much the wrap up. Initial polls showed it an initial Biden win, similar to Romney's aggressive performance the week before. And, as Dean and I discussed, you got what you wanted going into it. Biden fans liked what he did; Ryan supporters did not. Biden did what he needed to do - he slowed the momentum of the Romney campaign.
The media are lucky enough to get the horse race they've been hoping for over the past months and have been leading us towards for the last year and a half. It all feels carefully orchestrated, if you step back and look at it with just a little cynicism. Or, even a lot.
As I mentioned, I will be live-Tweeting the next Presidential debate Tuesday night, and then Chris Novembrino from "Don't Worry About The Government" and I will breakdown that debate Wednesday morning on the show.
If you'd like to follow the action, you can find me on Twitter: @SteveGelder
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