Going into the debate tonight, there’s one major false assumption that needs to be cleared up: the myth of Joe Biden’s likability. A common theme in the pre-debate coverage is that Paul Ryan needs to come off as less wonky to balance out that folksy, blue-collar persona Joe Biden likes to adopt. It’s good advice, but it also shouldn’t give anyone the impression that Biden has some remarkable ability to connect with the average American, or that Ryan is a socially-awkward number-cruncher. Actually, the polls show the complete opposite.
And by “the polls,” I mean all of the polls. Ryan has scored higher favorability ratings than Biden in every national, non-partisan poll since he was chosen as Romney’s running mate, as The Hill reported last month:
Paul Ryan has had a higher favorability rating than Vice President Biden in every major nonpartisan national poll since the Wisconsin lawmaker was picked for the GOP vice presidential slot.
In these polls, Ryan averaged a likability factor of about 7.6 percentage points higher than Biden, and he even bested President Obama’s favorability rating four out of six times.
The most recent Pew Research poll this week found Biden underwater on likability (51 percent viewed him unfavorably, 39 percent favorably):
Vice President Biden heads into Thursday’s debate with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) with opinion stacked against him. According to a new Pew Research Center poll, more voters view the vice president unfavorably than favorably by a 51 percent to 39 percent margin.
Opinions on GOP vice presidential nominee Ryan are more evenly divided, with 44 percent of voters viewing him favorably and 40 percent viewing him unfavorably.
I’m not sure where the myth of Biden’s likability comes from, but it’s not backed up by the numbers.
Could the myth of Biden's likability be coming from Biden? I'm sure he thinks he's likable.
They are in different leagues across every parameter one cares to look at. n nBiden is a windbag for the ages. A used car salesman of a politician. n nRyan is smart, quick, likeable, honest and has excellent judgement and insight into people and concepts. n nHe simply needs the exposure. n nHe will do more than fine, and Biden will not 'win' this thing.
Where? Why from the same insipid, despicable consensus of the political cognoscenti "inside the Beltway" that's where. Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas, and "Scotty Boy" Ritter might take exception to the proposition of Uncle Joe's likability, but never mind. (Maybe you could get those two embodiments of the "consensus," political Gummy Worm David Gergen, and his erstwhile "debate" opponent on the News Hour, the quipster Mark Shields, to instruct us on why Mr. Biden is someone we should love.) As for me, I've thought, since 1987, when recalling Unc's instructing Judge Bork on the finer points of Constitutional law, while he and his partners in slander (Edward "The Lion of the Senate" Kennedy, Howard Metzenbaum, etc.) were "advising and consenting" and, literally, sifting Mr. Bork's garbage: "*What* was Delaware thinking?"
I crack up every time I think of the alcoholic man-slaughterer and serial rape accomplice being called the 'Lion of the Senate'.
Sorry, it's not a myth. Biden is likable. I just finished listening to the debate over the radio. More than likable, the VP sounded smart, caring, informed, sure of himself. A decent fellow one can trust. n nPaul Ryan, who I had hoped would demolish Joe, did nothing of the kind. With his weaker, less resonant voice, Paul seemed smaller, less confident, a bit of a pipsqueak. Even when at his strengths, arguing numbers, he only did so-so. On abortion, entitlements, Afghanistan, he was trounced. Biden may have hurt himself with his snickering, but he came off, a better debater, a formidable personality, a leader. n nRyan did not make the grade to which he had been hyped. While Biden showed himself more solid than painted by his detractors.
You've done it, Naclican! You have discovered the Dems' brilliant debate strategy for Biden. Prep him for the billions of people listening to the debate on the radio! n nThat way no one will be able to see what an utter ass he made of himself on TV where he acted like the drunk uncle at a Thanksgiving dinner, smirking, shaking his head, rolling his eyes… n nNow if only the Dems can figure out a way to get the next presidential debate carried exclusively by RKO radio, they can sew this one up!
Maybe reporters like him, and that's where this meme comes from. They say in Washington, "If you want a friend, get a dog." The way Biden looked and acted in the debate, If I were a dog and he was trying to get me to come to him, I would turn tail and run. The idea of Biden's likability indeed seems to be a myth.
He's the pluperfect Irish wake MC. Ryan came accross as an effete Howdy Doody milqtoast twerp. Biden knocked the sap silly. He linked him in the parlance of hip hop.