By Abass Ogundipe
General consensus was that Romney floored Obama, in the first of the presidential debates aired last week, even though some die hard Obama supporters will fail to admit this, waiting for the knocks.
But looks like , VP Joe Biden might have bested Ryan in the only and just concluded vice-presidential debate. Ryan for a better part of the debate looked like a kid trying to force the wrong puzzle piece in the jigsaw.
However, polls released minutes after the affair was over seem to puncture my claim.
The CNN-ORC poll decided the debate was a tie, with one-third rooting for Biden and one-third believing that Ryan did a better job convincing Americans that the Republican duo will do a better job.
Another poll, the CNN-ORC post debate poll of registered voters gave the day to Ryan with 48% to Biden’s 44%,with a sampling error of +or-5.
The vote seeking VPs did enjoy their night out at the “gentleman brawl”, each making their case succinctly, Biden was aggressive, Ryan with his oft-repeated message was however able to match the sitting VP point for point.
Both also tried to stretch the truth, a norm in this kind of contest.
While discussing the attack on the Libyan Consulate, Biden said, “We did not know they wanted more security there.”
But this answer had already been contradicted by State Department official just the day before in a testimony before a congressional panel.
On Syria, Ryan claimed that the Obama administration hasn’t handled the crisis properly, but when pressed by moderator, Martha Raddatz to proffer the line a Romney administration would tow, he had little to distinguish what Romney would have done differently.
On a whole, Biden was suggesting that the present administration has revived the economy and kept its promises to wind down wars overseas. He blasted Romney’s plans, saying they would plunge the nation back into recession and foster instability overseas.
Ryan on his own part said, Obama’s — and Biden’s — economic plans have failed, with unemployment still high and economic growth still slow; he also said the Obama foreign policy is “unraveling” amid rising violence in the Middle East and elsewhere.
The US presidential election is surely getting interesting, before the debates began; Obama was enjoying a modest lead, partly due to minuscule improvement in the economy, but after the first debate looks like Romney is in the front.
Not yet hurray for both camps though, but my black face is still rooting for the Obama camp.