While certainly not as interesting as the one during the last election, the vice presidential debate between challenger Paul Ryan and incumbent Joe Biden should give the American public more insight into the thinking of one of the most conservative politicians around, Paul Ryan. Yet facing the slump following Obama’s academic performance in the first presidential debate, Biden has some ground to make up.
Biden is a seasoned Washington politician who knows his way around a debate. He can afford to be more sympathetic than Obama, and more liberal on the major social issues. He was the first of the administration to support equality in marriage and has given numerous speeches about slimming defense and opening up immigration. The administration has a lot of good talking points, and Biden can use compassion to make the case for the health care act and for higher taxes on the super wealthy.
Ryan, on the other hand, has come under heavy fire for his budget proposal and his idea to eliminate Medicare. Facing declining popularity and an image of coldness, he must deliver concrete ideas. This will be exceptionally difficult, since his primary talking point is the debt, yet he voted for nearly every single one of the programs that got us into this position in the first place.
Biden must exploit this, and drive hard on the point that debt is not good but a suffering society is worse. Cutting the debt at the expense of the health of our nation is out of the question. Cuts to programs definitely need to be made, but not at the expense of health or education. And revenues must rise, including both closing loopholes — as Romney is so fond of saying — and raising taxes on the wealthy, and possibly even across the board. Hammering home a realistic solution that puts our society’s best interest first is what the majority of Americans will respond to. The era of the individual for himself is coming to a close. Biden just might be the man to usher that in, and set the stage for a stronger Obama in debate #2.