Watertown— Millions gathered to watch the Vice Presidential debates. One could watch it via streaming, on your iPhone, iPad or through the traditional television. However one viewed the VP debates, it all started when 67.2 million people tuned in October 3rd to watch the Presidential debates. President Obama had a lack-luster performance that somehow helped him raise more than enough campaign money. In fact, President Obama is on the cusp of raising 1 billion dollars.
Meanwhile, Romney criticized the 7.8 percent of the population out of work and the national debt continues to rise 3.8 billion per day since 2007. In 2009 the U.S. Deficit was roughly 7 trillion dollars, then in 2010 it rose to 13 trillion dollars and now the national debt is 16 trillion dollars. This debt Romney has been criticizing through out his campaign.
The top 10 Foreign governments that own U.S. debt are the following:
1. China, Mainland, $1149.6 billion dollars
2. Japan, $1117.1 billion dollars
3. Oil Exporters, $262.3 billion dollars
4. Brazil, $253.0 billion dollars
5. Carib Banking Centers, $246.2 billion dollars
6. All Other, $224.1 billion dollars
7. Taiwan, $196.1 billion dollars
8. Switzerland, $190.1 billion dollars
9. Russia, $154.3 billion dollars
10. Belgium, $144.2 billion dollars
On October 3rd, Romney showed up appearing energized, happy to be there and also ready to go toe-to-toe with the President of the United States. While President Obama was criticized for having a “lack-luster” performance the President later admit “I had a bad night.” Romney has been quoted and sometimes criticized for the fact that he doesn’t want to “borrow from China” or any other country and continue to have more debt.
How much money does the United States owe to not just China but other countries?
· China 1.1 trillion dollars
· Japan 1.12 trillion dollars
· Russia 154.3 billion dollars
· United Kingdom 140.9 billion dollars
· Germany 62.8 billion
· Canada 55.6 billion
As of July, 2012 the United States owes money to the following countries listed above. And while many news stations such as CNN, Fox, NBC, and others rushed to do facts checks after the Presidential debate and the VP debates. Facts are important, but so are overall impressions of not only the way candidates conducted themselves, but the level of respect they showed towards each other.
Beginning with the Presidential debates, President Obama got a chance to speak for 42 minutes and 40 seconds in the first Presidential debate in Denver, Colorado. Romney was only allowed to speak for 38 minutes and 14 seconds. Giving the democrats more time to speak didn’t just happen in this first debate.
In the Vice Presidential debate Vice President Joe Biden spoke for 41 minutes and 32 seconds while Paul Ryan got a chance to speak for 40 minutes and 12 seconds. Although highly respected ABC moderator Martha Raddatz, Biden was still allowed to interrupt Ryan and over talk just as President Obama got a chance to over speak in the first Presidential debates. Does the Democratic party, in all the debates thus far, feel the need to over speak?
First impressions are the most important thing. Bernard Goldberg of CBS wrote in his recent article “No Winner in the Debate – but Maybe a Loser” explained the same complaint that numerous people tweeted, commented and was irked about. Biden’s smirking and often condescending tone for most of the 90 minutes resonated negatively. In fact, Goldberg goes on to write-
“He reminded me of Al Gore during his debate with George Bush. Remember when W would say something Gore didn’t like – and Gore would roll his eyes and sigh. He did it over and over again. I can’t remember a single piece of substance from that debate all these years later – and I suspect I couldn’t remember a single piece of substance the next morning, either. But I remember Al Gore sighing all these years later.”
Although Bernard Goldberg didn’t see a clear winner, only that Biden lost because of his behavior. “And I’ll remember Joe Biden laughing, not like a friendly, nice guy but like a condescending, snarky politician. I bet I’m not alone.”
Goldberg of CBS is not alone. In fact, Fox news anchor Christopher Wallace equally stated “I don't believe I've ever seen a debate in which one participant was as openly disrespectful of the other as Biden was to Paul Ryan tonight." Chris Wallace has seen almost all debates since 1960. Wallace criticized Biden as “Openly disrespectful” equally criticizing Biden’s use of words such as “malarkey”, “bunch of stuff”, “I don’t know what these guys are talking about”, “loose talk”, and “bluster”.
Biden was also criticized for rolling his eyes, openly laughing and not listening while Ryan spoke. As Bernard Goldberg pointed out that a mere sigh from Al Gore cost him the election and was the only thing most people could remember about the Gore/Bush debates. The twitter universe had hundreds of people complaining about Biden’s behavior.
Even the U.K. news, the daily mail observed Biden’s poor performance. “Did bullying Biden go too far? Sneering and smirking Joe mocks rival Ryan in electrifying TV battle but fails to land a knockout blow”. The article went on to describe the Biden/Ryan VP showdown as “A sneering, finger-jabbing Joe Biden assailed Paul Ryan in a high-octane vice-presidential debate on Thursday night but failed to deliver a knockout blow in a 'disrespectful' display that left many shocked.”
Recent polls show that most viewers around the nation felt the same way. In fact, a CNN poll had 48% of viewers felt that Ryan won the debate and Biden lost by 44%. Although, this number has changed- an earlier poll conducted by global post reflected earlier today that 595 votes said that Ryan won, 571 votes said Biden lost. Associated Press also had an earlier survey which equally showed Ryan winning by 51-43.
Some may think Biden “brought” heat to re-energize the democratic base. But, what most people can take away from the Biden/Ryan debates is Bidens condescending smirking. Hopefully, the town hall debates coming up Tuesday October 16th at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York- will have less smirking and more substance.
