No clear victor despite Biden’s aggressive push in debate

In a spirited debate that laid out stark choices, Joe Biden and Paul Ryan teed up pointed arguments on the economy, social policy, and America’s place in the world that US president Barack Obama and rival Mitt Romney now will drive forward into the campaign’s final stretch.

With just 24 days to go before the Nov 6 election and with throngs of people already voting, Obama and Romney will try to answer two questions that their running mates posed to the tens of millions of Americans who watched a hard-fought, 90-minute debate.

“Who do you trust?” Biden asked.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a job-creator in the White House?” asked Ryan.

Biden, eager to make up for Obama’s lacklustre performance in his first debate with Romney, played the aggressor throughout. But polls were split afterwards on who won the debate.

Obama gave his running mate a quick thumbs up for delivering with an energy and feeling that he had lacked against Romney.

“His passion for making sure that the economy grows for the middle class came through so I’m really proud of him,” Obama said.

Ryan came back at the vice president with harsh talking points, a flurry of statistics, and a stark warning — in another Obama term, he said: “Watch out, middle class, the tax bill’s coming to you.”

Romney got on the phone to Ryan immediately after the debate to congratulate his running mate.

Now attention shifts to the two remaining debates between Obama and Romney; Tuesday’s “town hall” style face-off in New York, and a final showdown, over foreign policy, on Oct 22 in Boca Raton, Florida.

And the campaign teams got right back into the thick of it yesterday, looking for ways large and small to shift more voters their direction in the small number of states whose electoral votes are still up for grabs: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Obama has set aside a serious chunk of time for preparation after being faulted for underestimating the importance of his first debate with Romney. He will be hunkered down in Williamsburg, Virginia, from today until Tuesday rehearsing.

Obama had to hope that Biden’s solid showing on Thursday was enough to shift a campaign dynamic that has had the momentum moving Romney’s way since the first debate.

Romney, for his part, had to hope Ryan’s performance would keep up the good karma for the GOP.

The running mates clearly sensed that the stakes were higher than usual for their faceoff, and both played hardball throughout, frequently interrupting one another and challenging one another’s assertions.

On television’s split screens, Biden’s body language — a montage of pained smiles, winces, head shakes, and eye rolls — often screamed incredulity when Ryan was speaking.

“I know you’re under a lot of duress to make up for lost ground,” Ryan shot back at Biden at one point, “but I think people would be better served if we don’t keep interrupting each other.”

In one of the night’s lighter moments, Ryan helpfully provided a translation of one of Biden’s putdowns.

“This is a bunch of stuff,” Biden said of Ryan’s dismissive characterisation of Obama’s Iran policy.

“What does that mean, a bunch of stuff?” asked moderator Martha Raddatz of ABC News.

“It’s Irish,” Ryan offered.

“It is,” Biden agreed, to laughter from the audience. “We Irish call it malarkey.”

There were spirited exchanges on taxes, abortion, Medicare, Libya, and more. It may not have broken new ground, but the conversation gave viewers a clear illustration of the sharp choices before them come election day.

“In case you haven’t noticed, we have strong disagreements,” Biden said in his closing statement. And then he distilled the Democrats’ campaign pitch into a simple bid to give anxious Americans “a little bit of peace of mind.”

Ryan then spoke of the “big choice” in this election, and argued that Obama had had his chance and had failed.