memeorandum: The Bully vs. the Wonk (Wall Street Journal)

10:40 AM ET, October 12, 2012

Top Items:

Joe Biden / CNN:

CNN Poll: Debate watchers split on who won VP debate — Danville, Kentucky (CNN) - Call it a draw. — Forty-eight percent of voters who watched the vice presidential debate think that Rep. Paul Ryan won the showdown, according to a CNN/ORC International nationwide poll conducted right after Thursday night's faceoff.

CBS News:

Poll: Biden takes debate over Ryan, uncommitted voters say — Fifty percent of uncommitted voters who tuned into Thursday night's vice presidential debate in Danville, Ky., said they see Vice President Joe Biden as the winner over Mitt Romney's GOP running mate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., according to an instant poll taken by CBS News.

Discussion: Power Line, New York Magazine, Salon, Talking Points Memo, National Review, Infidel753, AEIdeas, Daily Kos, The Maddow Blog, Capital New York, Forbes, Wonkblog, PolicyMic, Prairie Weather and Business Insider

Wall Street Journal:

The Bully vs. the Wonk — The Veep's strategy: Show contempt for your opponent. — So now we know what Team Obama's comeback plan was following last week's defeat in the Presidential debate. Unleash Joe Biden to interrupt, filibuster, snarl, smirk and otherwise show contempt for Paul Ryan.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Politico, The Daily Beast, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Week and Washington Post

Joe Biden / CNN:

Transcript: Vice Presidential Debate — (CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan met in Danville, Kentucky on Thursday evening for the vice presidential debate. — MARTHA RADDATZ, MODERATOR: Good evening, and welcome to the first and only vice presidential debate …

Discussion: WPTV, Guardian, Simply Left BehindThe …, Algemeiner.com, Law Blog, The Huffington Post, ABCNEWS, FP Passport, Sweetness & Light, Boston Globe, Politico and americanthinker.com

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Very Quick Thoughts — I'll keep it brief. — I'd call the first exchange on foreign policy basically a draw. Biden was on uncomfortable terrain on the Libya story. On each successive encounter, Biden was on the offensive and owned the conversation. I don't think it was close.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Washington Monthly, Los Angeles Times, Guardian, Swampland, National Review and The Week

Patrick Gavin / Politico:

Twitter frowns on Joe Biden's laugh — Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan were the two candidates on stage at Thursday's vice presidential debate, but a third character emerged: Joe Biden's laugh, which didn't escape the notice of tweeting politicos.

Discussion: Villainous Company, americanthinker.com, Michelle Malkin, Townhall.com, The Lonely Conservative, American Spectator, National Review, Betsy's Page, Swampland, The Strata-Sphere and Hot Air

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Sarah Palin: Martha Raddatz let Joe Biden run wild — Sarah Palin took vice presidential debate moderator Martha Raddatz to task for allowing Vice President Joe Biden to “run roughshod” over Paul Ryan. — “Really tough format, Sean, for someone like a Paul Ryan or anybody else up against Joe Biden …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Daily Caller, Reuters, Riehl World News, PolicyMic, CNN and Poynter

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Angry old man yells at Paul Ryan for 90 minutes; Update: CNN insta-poll of undecideds shows tie; Update: Ryan wins CNN insta-poll overall, 48/44 — I expected “table-pounding atmospherics” from Biden but I didn't expect him to act like a total jackhole for fully 90 minutes.

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, Slate, Babalú Blog, Mediaite, Questions and Observations, NewsBusters.org blogs, americanthinker.com, Hit & Run, Associated Press, The Daily Beast, Search Engine Land, Instapundit and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Live-Blogging The Biden-Ryan Debate — 10.33 pm. I have to say that Biden did to Ryan what Cheney did to Edwards in style and demeanor and authoritah. Ryan was hampered by an insurmountable problem on the impossible mathematics of the Romney budget. I think his inability to answer that question …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Slate, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine and Mother Jones

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Debate verdict: Martha Raddatz took control — Tonight's winner: Martha Raddatz. — Jim Lehrer she is not. Raddatz, the moderator of tonight's vice presidential debate, served as an authoritative voice throughout the 90-minute contest between Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan …

Discussion: Reuters, ABCNEWS, Sweetness & Light, BuzzFeed, Washington Examiner, the-reaction.blogspot.ca, The Daily Caller, NO QUARTER USA NET and ABCNEWS

NPR:

Transcript And Audio: Vice Presidential Debate … Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., participate in the vice presidential debate, moderated by Martha Raddatz of ABC News, Thursday in Danville, Ky. — Transcript of the Oct. 11 debate between Vice President Biden …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, The New Republic, Shakesville, Guardian and Booman Tribune

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
Biden contradicts State Department on Benghazi security

Discussion: Althouse, Weekly Standard, The PJ Tatler, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Hill, americanthinker.com, Taylor Marsh, Power Line, ABCNEWS, Sweetness & Light, Michelle Malkin and iOwnTheWorld.com

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Sources: Ryan to be called ‘mister,’ not ‘congressman,’ at debate (Updated)

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CNN, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, The Maddow Blog, Taylor Marsh and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

John Nolte / BREITBART.COM:
MEDIA HAMMERS BIDEN: ‘STOP SMIRKING!’ ‘WEIRD,’ ‘JERK’

Discussion: Liberal Values, Scared Monkeys, Riehl World News, Betsy's Page and RNC Research

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:
Biden Bombed — You don't win a nationally televised debate by being rude and obnoxious.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line: Thoughts on the vice-presidential debate

New York Times:
Biden and Ryan Quarrel Aggressively in Debate, Offering Contrasts

Discussion: Gothamist, The Caucus, Capital Tonight and Outside the Beltway

Reuters:
Joe Biden, Paul Ryan clear the bar — barely

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Politico and BuzzFeed

Andrew Rosenthal / Taking Note:
In Praise of Martha Raddatz

Discussion: New York Times, The Week, Fox News, The Spectacle Blog, The Daily Beast, Pressthink and Politico

Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:
Thoughts on the vice presidential debate

Discussion: Washington Post and National Review

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
In Polls, Biden Gets a Hold

Discussion: New York Times, Colorlines, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Capital New York, Washington Examiner, PolicyMic, Gallup and American Prospect

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:
Biden blames intelligence community for changing story about Libya attack

Discussion: Hot Air, Weekly Standard and BuzzFeed

Bruce Kesler / Maggie's Farm:
Rude Biden Turns Off Many Independents

Discussion: CNN and Israel Matzav

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
The Zombie-Eyed Granny-Starver Takes on the One Man Who Relishes This Mess: Your 2012 VP Debate Preview

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Impolitic and CNN

Ann Althouse / Althouse: Live-blogging the big VP debate.

Paul Ryan / CNN:
Ryan aide says magazine used ‘poor judgment’ printing photos

Discussion: Politico, New York Magazine, Election 2012 and LightBox

Tom Cohen / CNN:
Biden, Ryan slug it out in debate

Discussion: the-reaction.blogspot.ca, The Reaction, The Moderate Voice, PolicyMic, The Daily Beast and New York Magazine

John Boone / E! Online:

NEWS/Lindsay Lohan: I'm Voting for Mitt Romney — Lindsay Lohan should have enough issues to focus on in her life (like, say, the blow up fight she had with her mom and subsequent fight she had with her dad) but she has another on her mind: Unemployment. — The Liz & Dick star stepped …

Discussion: Business Insider, New York Magazine, Gawker, The Hinterland Gazette and Hotline On Call

Cindy Adams / New York Post:

Lindsay Lohan endorses Mitt Romney — LOS ANGELES - Four years ago, Lindsay Lohan referred to Obama's Presidential victory as “amazing,” but cut to 2012, and it seems the “Mean Girls” star has had a serious change of heart. — “I think unemployment is very important for now, so as of now I think …

Discussion: GOP 12

Caitlin McDevitt / Reuters: Lindsay Lohan backs Mitt Romney

Talking Points Memo:
Obama: Romney Now ‘Severely Kidding’ About Past Positions

Discussion: Discourse.net, The Reality-Based Community, GOP 12 and Taylor Marsh

Nobelprize.org:

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2012 — The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2012 is to be awarded to the European Union (EU). The union and its forerunners have for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.

Discussion: BBC, Daniel W. Drezner, Business Insider and FT Alphaville

Iain Martin / blogs.telegraph.co.uk:
EU winning Nobel Peace Prize is beyond parody, like knighting Fred Goodwin in the middle of a mad boom

Discussion: americanthinker.com and Vox Popoli

New York Times:
Nobel Committee Awards Peace Prize to European Union

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Gene Maddaus / The Informer:

Brad Sherman Grabs Howard Berman At Debate, Challenges Him To A Fight — Think Biden-Ryan was a hard-fought debate? Then you missed the Berman-Sherman brawl up in the Valley today. — Congressman Brad Sherman put his arm around rival Congressman Howard Berman and challenged him to a fight, saying “Do you want to get into this?”

Discussion: Influence Alley and Outside the Beltway

Shelby Grad / PolitiCal:
Berman, Sherman get into near-altercation at forum [Video]

Discussion: Politico, First Read, The Raw Story and Hotline On Call

Adam C. Smith / Tampa Bay Times:

Times/Bay News 9/Herald exclusive Florida poll: Romney 51, Obama 44 — Barack Obama's lackluster debate performance last week has dramatically altered the presidential race in Florida, with Mitt Romney opening up a decisive 7 percentage point lead, according to a new Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9/Miami Herald poll.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, The Daily Caller, Israel Matzav, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Jammie Wearing Fools, Politico, Gretawire and The PJ Tatler

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

Did Stephanie Cutter Just Win The Foreign Policy Debate For Romney? — In case you haven't seen the video, watch it. Drink it in. Obama campaign Deputy Communications Director Stephanie Cutter, in a craven and flailing attempt to salvage the White House's ebbing credibility surrounding …

Discussion: “The Lid” and Politico