that was a moment for joe biden to be folksy joe biden and say, guys, everybody out there, who do you trust? we're leveling with you here. it was sort of that plain talk joe biden. i think it worked for him. >> it relates to the gaffe in joe biden when he looks in the camera and says something, this is what he really means. he always says what he really means, even if it's inappropriate. talk about appropriate, paul ryan must have drank a gallon of water during the debate. it was so strange, it seemed every other cutaway, at least in the first half of the debate he's drinking down some water. >> as a quasi marathoner, i think it's probably something he's used to doing. there's one thing about taking a sip of water and another thing to be doing the, you know, rinse and spit in the dentist chair routine. he wasn't sort of drinking. he was swishing it around and having it be noticeable. it wasn't just what he was doing, it was when he was doing it. if you notice within the first 30 or 40 seconds of walking out on to the set, he immediately reached for the water. i don't think anybody rea

it's going to be about joe biden. if it takes seven minutes of him acting nuts we're going to roll it seven minute. >> he will be caught laughing and smiling to show you he couldn't turn it off. he didn't know when to turn it on. >> sean: bret baier pointed that out. he was doing this during serious discussion on iran. and when he said about iran calm down, the ire yawnin that's believe in islamic state have been fighting proxy terror wars we're supposed to calm down as they get closer to a nuclear weapon? >> i think what paul ryan did not only did he win the battle on taxes and laid that vision out for america, but he also showed this country how deep he is on foreign policy. i think he showed incredible depth and intelligence whit comes to where our place in the world is in the east. -- middle east. the fact is that what they have a problem with is that they've got a problem with facts and reality. they can't talk about plans for future and blame everyone else from where we are in this country. now, they can't talk

i think joe biden did. but ryan did have that one good line on taxes, raising fear about increases in middle class taxes. >> there are a couple of shots taken, like you bring in a foreign object to a wrestling match. one was you're under duress. also the one comparing joe biden's gaps, which are usually harmless, with what the president was heard saying in terms of the 47-minute expose. to compare those two seems ludicrous. >> well, it seems ludicrous, chris, but i think it was effective to the extent that it's an irresistible sound bite. it's an irresistible exchange. but joe biden got the last word there, sort of. he said, well, when i speak, i'm telling the truth. you know, when i misspeak, i'm saying what i really believe. what he needed to say further was that's what mitt romney really believes. >> he did. he did say that. >> yeah, he did say it. >> when i say it, i mean it, and this guy does too. that's the dangerous stuff. anyway, thank you, howard. we'll see you later tonight. >> play the whole soun

>> i think joe biden won the debate. his mission was to go in, energize democrats, defend the president's record and challenge congressman ryan on some of the misrepresentations that they've made about obama/biden record and frankly, ask him for specifics about what they would do, this mystery tax plan and whose budget are they actually running on. i think he did all of that last night and did it really well. >> kristen, do you agree with that? >> no, but i think it's possible for republicans to really think their guy won and for democrats to really think their guy won. i don't think this is partisan spinning because both men went in with different objectives. joe biden went in with his objective being i'm going to heckle the republicans, and fire up my base. he did that. i think paul ryan said i have to go in and prove i can be vice president or president of the united states. i think there are no republicans out there complaining about his performance. i think he did a good job, he did exactly what he needed to. >> i d

did joe biden -- joe biden do what joe biden had to do last night? were you, as a washington guy that's been around this for a long time, did you find it off-putting, or do you think it was called for? >> i think joe was joe. and when you're yourself, it usually helps in politics. look, it's going to lend itself to some great scenes on "saturday night live" and other late-night comedians. i agree with mark halperin on that. but i don't think it was like al gore in 2000, which mark will remember. al gore looked arrogant and condescending and elitist. what joe was, joe was scrappy at times, rude, feisty. i think that's what he needed to do last night. i think he could have done without a few smirks. he could have done without a few interruptions. but i don't think it really hurt him. and i think when you talk about style, joe, one of the things we ought to consider is, as barack obama goes into that now very important debate next tuesday, the format's a town hall. and that makes it a little bit harder for him to be tough and challenging romney because

but paul ryan called out by joe biden. we will check in with charles i've been a superintendent for 30 some years at many different park service units across the united states. the only time i've ever had a break is when i was on maternity leave. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved. now, i'm going to be able to have the time to explore something different. it's like another chapter. >> you sigh, if you don't have a good record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone to run from. that was what president obama said in 2008. that's what he is doing right now. >> sean: that's exactly what the vice-president did in last night's debate. forget the record, uncle joe did everything in his power to hide from his boss's failures and used the left's favorite tactic, divisive class warfare. >> they are holding hostage the middle class tax cut to the super wealthy. the middle class got knocked on their heels. the great recession crushed them. they need some help now. whatever you call it, the bottom line is

let me jump in and bail out joe biden again. i don't think it hurt paul ryan because joe biden was in complete meltdown mode. what did you think? >> first of all, when will republicans ever learn to vet moderators before they hire them? >> sean: good point. >> i don't understand this. every four years they do had and every four years they complain. i don't have any sympathy for them. she started off well. she was composed. her questions were even handed. she did a good job. but talking about jim lehrer lost control, she lost control of herself because by the end of it, she is interrupting joe biden interrupting paul ryan. it was a disaster of a performance on her part. she was -- my favorite was when paul ryan tried to ask joe biden a question about greenions and how they promised 5 million jobs and she cut him off and she said, we've heard enough about that. i agree complete with charles krauthammer. paul ryan should have turned to her and said, with all due respect, no, i am not moving o. i am going to ask my question and joe

is whether you like joe biden or didn't like joe biden or whether paul ryan seemed like he was up to the job of being president? >> well, charlie let's talk about style and substance. the style points, you know, i moderated two of these debates, these vice presidential debates, one in which they are standing at separate podiums and one in which they were seated in that circular table like martha raddatz did tonight and i thought she did a great job. >> rose: i did too. >> one way they react when sitting across the table that's when he asked about the 47 percent and paul ryan obviously planned response was well sometimes things come out the wrong way you know that joe and biden was able to say yeah but i mean it when i say i it and that brought him back around to the question of passion that mark was talking about, but on the substance part of this, let's talk about the loose end that were left on the table, what happened, their disagreements or at least unresolved differences on iran and actually what action it is united states should take and on afghanistan and whether or not -- i c

>> look, joe biden is going to be joe biden. that would have been true whether he was doing this after a different debate last week or not. you know joe biden and the american people have gotten to know him. he's a fighter for the middle class. he feels it in his gut and even more importantly, the policies that he and the president stand for are ones that will help the middle class, which is in stark contrast to the romney/ryan plan. so, i think the nation is in for a really good discussion tonight. >> i think you're very right. a very serious, strong discussion. you know paul ryan now probably better than anyone you studied and studied him getting ready for these debate preparations. where do you believe the wisconsin congressman is most vulnerable? >> well, paul ryan is very quick on his feet. we've debated his budget many times in the house. but i think he's most vulnerable when it comes to translating his budget into the impact that it has on real people. when you actually begin to crunch the numbers and do the math, you fin

joe biden proved that last night. and as winston churchill once said, i like a man who grins when he fights. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >>> these are the folks who talk about 47% of the american people being unwilling to take responsibility. it's about time governor romney takes some responsibility. >> the vice president keeps the hits coming after his knockout debate with paul ryan. >> stop talking about how you care about people. show me something. >> richard wolffe on the education of congressman paul ryan. >> ronald reagan -- >> now you're jack kennedy? >> ronald reagan -- >> "now's" terri o'neal on the romney ticket's disaster for women. >> if the romney/ryan ticket is elected, should those who believe abortion should remain legal be worried? >> david cay johnston on ryan's sixth study lie. >> can you guarantee this math will add up? >> absolutely. six studies have guaranteed. >> and what's more disrespectful? lying to america or interrupting a guy who's lying to america? >> it was openly contemptu

joe biden proved that last night. and as winston churchill once said, i like a man who grins when he fights. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >>> these are the folks who talk about 47% of the american people being unwilling to take responsibility. it's about time governor romney takes some responsibility. >> the vice president keeps the hits coming after his knockout debate with paul ryan. >> stop talking about how you care about people. show me something. >> richard wolffe on the education of congressman paul ryan. >> ronald reagan -- >> now you're jack kennedy? >> ronald reagan -- >> "now's" terri o'neal on the romney ticket's disaster for women. >> if the romney/ryan ticket is elected should those that believe abortion should remain legal be worried? >> david cay johnston on ryan's sixth study lie. >> can you guarantee this math will add up? >> absolutely. six studies have guaranteed. >> and what's more disrespectful? lying to america or interrupting a guy who's lying to america? >> it was openly contemptu

>> i think obviously joe biden is 69 years old. paul ryan is 42 years old. 27-year difference, but on all of these issues the two went at it, and i thought paul ryan -- he went toe to toe on national security foreign policy issues with the vice president who has way more experience in all of these areas than ryan did, but ryan obviously has studied a lot. certainly over the last few weeks getting ready for this debate. he didn't fumble, and the vice president, there were no gaffs by joe biden during this dae bait. people can dmran about some stylistic maneuvers and the hands and the smiles and the smirks and all that kind of stuff, but there were no major verbal gaffs or anything by either of these candidates. i think it was a pretty good substantive debate. >> okay. so now i want to jump to something that's sort of unusual. i don't often hear pundits discuss this part of the debate. it was the very end, the stuff you're not usually supposed to be watching. it was when the families came up on the stage. i don't know about you, but

first to you, michael, you know joe biden really well. what is the challenge here for joe biden? we know that sometimes when he gets wound up on the stump he goes off message. but as maggie was saying earlier, in debates he's been really focused. is that the joe biden you expect to show up tonight? >> i do. i expect joe biden to show up tonight to try to prevent congressman ryan from wiley mischaracter iing the record the obama/biden record over last four years and try to hold congressman wryan to specifics. congressman ryan will have to reconcile his own budget plan and the rapidly evolving romney/ryan budget and tax plan. a lot of open questions there. i expect vice president biden's going to come out ready to hold his feet to the fire on specifics. and congressman ryan has other challenges, you know? he's not well-known on the national stage, so this will be a new introduction for him. and he has to pass the commander in chief threshold so there will be foreign policy questions tonight. he'll have to hold his own there. he also has to energize conservatives but also appeal to

joe biden should always be joe biden. no one can ever beat you at your own game. my mother, a southern mama, used to tell me all the time it's only when you try to be someone else that you fail. and that is the accusation against governor romney. that is perhaps why friends of mine who are conservatives don't totally buy into mitt romney. you may make mistakes being yourself, but that you a then tisity that is needed, that is palpable, that can be felt through a television screen, it has to come from you being you. so i marvel at the fact that someone with joe biden's experience, someone like joe biden who has been in debates and won many debates, is being given advice to be himself. no one can ever beat you when you are yourself. so if that is the advice, he should certainly take it. >> can i ask you to refix your microphone because when you were speaking it was jumping and jumbling against your cheek and our viewers are not as able to hear you as clearly as they'd like. >> they gave christmas e matthe good mike. >> this is a 62-year-old veteran versus the 42-yea

joe biden. joe biden? and later when shawn hanity decided to attack the president he picked the wrong guest to do it with. ters, a great clean doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. [ female announcer ] unlike sprays and dust rags, swiffer 360 dusters extender can clean hard to reach places in less time. swiffer. great clean in less time. or your money back. she would help her child. no. no no no no no. mommy's here [ male announcer ] with everything. but instead she gives him capri sun super-v. with one combined serving of fruits and vegetables. new capri sun super-v. >> the congressman who told constituants just what they wanted to hear about the president is now hearing it from reporters. one reporter caught him and what the congressman said that you will have to hear to believe. the wheat in every mini-wheat has gotta be just right. perfect golden color. rich in fiber. my dad taught me, and i taught my son out there. morning, pa. wait... who's driving the...? ♪ 99 bushels of wheat on the farm, 99 bus

i think you saw joe biden last night maybe not everybody has seen joe biden over the years in debates and other places, but i felt that was the joe biden that i know. and i don't think there was any pretense. as he said, i mean what i say and i say what i mean. >> laura: middle class has been buried in the last four years. that helps the republicans. >> he had a good night. democrats are very happy. as you are well aware the republicans are pretty happy today, too. both sides got what they wanted. >> let's go to you, chris, i'm looking at some the polls. cnn did an instant poll and it showed that 48% of the people who watched thought that really paul ryan had the better of the debate. 44% biden. i think within the margin of error. it was pretty time nevertheless, let's say paul ryan had done to biden what biden did to paul ryan just on the gesturing. just on the laughing. how do you think the media today would be playing all of this? how do you think they would be reacting? i have a feeling they would say it was really disrespectful of the vice president and unbecoming a man such as p

but paul ryan called out by joe biden. we will check in with charles krauthammer coming up next. [ thunder crashes ] [ female announcer ] some people like to pretend a flood could never happen to them. and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesn't. stop pretending. only flood insurance covers floods. ♪ visit floodsmart.gov/pretend to learn your risk. >> you sigh, if you don't have a good record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone to run from. that was what president obama said in 2008. that's what he is doing right now. >> sean: that's exactly what the vice-president did in last night's debate. forget the record, uncle joe did everything in his power to hide from his boss's failures and used the left's favorite tactic, divisive class warfare. >> they are holding hostage the middle class tax cut to the super wealthy. the middle class got knocked on their heels. the great recession crushed them. they need some help now. whatever you call it, the bottom line is people are g

joe biden was trusted. he's the guy who always took the train from washington back up to wilmington. >> because? >> because that's where he lived. >> and because his two kids were orphaned. >> his kids were orphaned. his first wife died in a tragic accident. he's the kind of guy who liked to ride the train, who liked to talk to people on the train. his dad was a car dealer. he's an average guy. he went to state schools. he knows how to speak the real language. the onion newspaper, the humor newspaper, they've got a guy they call onion joe biden, and he's a guy with tattoos and a muscle tee who's always polishing his pontiac. that's an exaggeration, but on the other hand, that's who joe biden is. and the other thing about joe biden -- and i think the senator will agree with me -- he was one of the best informed, most detail focused guys. he was chairman of the foreign relations committee, chairman of the judiciary committee. this is not just a show horse by any means. >> it helps if you're 29 years old when

joe biden was on his game. he's trending on twitter in a good way, in a bad way, he clearly was in command of the stage last night. >> both of them performed well. paul ryan was much more confident and assured than he was in his speech, acceptance speech in august. i think he handled himself very well. i think biden delivered more of what his side needed. look at the polling. cnn poll had ryan winning, cbs poll had biden winning. biden was effective when he got back to framing this as a choice of who is on your side. ryan, in the answer on libya was effective when he could get back to whether the past four years justify another four years. those are each strong arguments for those remaining undecided voters, which is why i think the debate, above all, shows we may be headed for the third photo finish presidential election out of the last four. >> jessica, if you listen to the reaction, it appears from joe biden's performance, i think people are saying, you know, joe biden, after that phone call with president o

joe biden. joe biden? and later when shawn hanity decided to attack the president he picked the wrong guest to do it with. like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. [ engine turns over ] [ male announcer ] we began with the rx. [ tires squeal ] then we turned the page, creating the rx hybrid. ♪ now we've turned the page again with the all-new rx f sport. ♪ this is the next chapter for the rx and the next chapter for lexus. see your lexus dealer. >> the congressman who told con stit wepts just what they wanted to hear about the president is now hearing it from reporters. one reporter caught him and what the congressman said that you will have to hear to believe. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule. the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemen

twitter on fire with joe biden's smirks, sneers and cackle. the twitter handle at laughing joe biden had more than 7,000 followers take a look at the highlights from the biden-ryan faceoff. >> we will find and bring to justice the men who did this. >> it took the president two weeks to acknowledge this was a terrorist attack. he went to the un and in his speech he said six times, talk about the you tube video. look. if we're hit by terrorists we're going to call it for what it s a terrorist attack. >> we weren't told they wanted more security there. we did not know. >> there were requests for extra security. those requests were not honored. >> they're pushing continuation of tax cuts giving an additional $500 billion in tax cuts to 120,000 families. and they're holding hostage a middle class tax cut because they say we won't pass and won't continue the middle class tax cut unless you give the tax cut to the super wealthy. it's time they take responsibility. >> do you know what the unemployment rate in scranton is today? >> i sure do. >> 10%. w

biden, hasn't been in the game as long as joe biden. so does biden walk into that stage with a tougher challenge? >> yes i think biden has the tougher challenge tonight. he does have an advantage, though. as you've shown in your own poll there. people expect biden to lose, and ryan to do better. that's because of their view of joe biden. i think they might be surprised by biden, just it's a they were surprised by mitt romney's performance in denver. but, yeah. ryan simply has to maintain the momentum that was generated by his running mate, mitt romney. if he does reasonably well, if he holds his own, if he even tie, i think that will be a plus for the romney/ryan ticket. so the greater burden is on biden. he does have longer experience at this. certainly has done many more high profile debates and he'll need all the experience to do well. >> all right. again, i'm going to be watching. i know you will, and i would venture a guess this one may be rated higher than the presidential debate. thank you very much, larry. appreciate it. >> than

joe biden versus joe biden. ryan barely showed up. he passed the threshold and did fine but if you like sneering attacks from this kind of senator, you're going to love it. >> wow. >> sneering attacks from this pompous old senator. >> but if -- >> not a joe biden fan. >> i am a joe biden fan. if you think joe biden is over the top you're going to not like it. you saw the reactions kind of split down the middle. >> if you think -- every seniority yen human being thinks joe biden is over the top. >> joe biden -- >> hold on. >> he came in with this cultural expectation, courtesy of the onion he was going to take his shirt off and rather up the podium. like he has a lot of room to run. >> i don't think statesman is a word you particularly associate with vice president biden. he was not statesman-like yesterday. he wasn't supposed to be. it's not the training that he got to go out there. he was going to go out there and beat up romney and he did that. >> by the way, the fact that the republicans are making a big deal about whether he was s

paul ryan 48%, joe biden 44%. cnn parentally republicans were oversampled more than usual in a cnn poll. so that may be why that number's high up. and i'm going to give david and jonathan a chance to catch their breath and get your analysis. i've been flying all morning long and i'm not into man fights. this notion, the headline will be can president obama duplicate, replicate, pick up where biden left off, that is what matters here. >> i think that will be the headline starting tomorrow. we done the have to wait till tuesday. >> right. >> the fact that there's no unanimity of agreement like last week. last week everybody knew what happened, democrats, republicans alike agree, it had not been president obama's best night. last night both sides are defending their guy and i think it was probably close to being a quote, unquote, tie. but it doesn't really matter if it doesn't show up in the polls, four, five, sitch days later, a week later. i suspect we're not going to see any long-term vice presidential debate boun

saw somebody up for the job and joe biden was joe biden. >> talk about the great recession, as if it fell out of the sky, like, oh, my goodness, where did it come from? >> i am aware that the consensus seems to be that biden was mean... rude... disrespectful. the joe biden that you saw last night is the democrat party. it is the modern democrat party, particularly the last 12 years. that's who they are. >> incredible. >> biden did exactly what was desired. in the process hurt himself and obottom aisle the vice-president is authentic. what you see is what you get. he didn't bring a bunch of political talking points like congressman ryan i think he reached a lot of americans. >> i don't think you should be laughing during a discussion about thermal nuclear war with iran. >> thank heavens we have these sanctions in place. >> however amused you are, it's about tone -- >> what do do you? >> i think he was sent on a mission because the president was just the opposite. he was very lethargic. he was just the opposite of what you saw last night from biden. >> did you get a chance to watch the

joe biden said he is excited. he sat down with other own dana bash to talk about his prep for the debate, and dana asked about biden's last debate opponent. >> the only other person to debate joe biden in a vice president debate is sarah palin. have you called her for advice? >> i have her. i only pet meth her once, and that was about two years ago. >> would you? >> sure, sure. >> can i call you joe? >> she famously or maybe infamously said that she wanted to call him joe because she kept calling him joe o'biden in debate prep. >> he knows me as paul, and i know him as swroe. i don't know. i haven't given much thought to that, to be honest with you. probably not unless he wants to make a case of it, but we know each other. actually we've gotten along quite well over the years. i like joe personally quite a bit. i just disagree with his policies. >> all right. dana is in danville, and, you know, we've all been trying not to say o'biden because it gets kind of cooky sometimes when you're mixing up all of the names h

biden is joe biden. he's authentic and real. he's state forward and he says what he thinks and he says what he means. >> mitch mcconnell criticizing style. more from mitt romney and former president bill clinton. >> the president watched the debate and thought the vice president did an excellent job presenting this administration's case. >> there was one person on stage last night who was thoughtful and respectful, steady, and poised. the other candidate, of course, just attacked. >> i kind felt for congressman ryan. he had to defend romney position that $716 billion in medicare savings in the president's budget that the congressmen voted for is some how a ripoff even though it was in his budget too. >> man he is good. for more on this debate and the struggle of the future of social security and medicare. let's go to errol lewis and thomas frank. gentlemen, thank you for being with us on "viewpoint" tonight. i came away from that debate thinking that the vice president really did the job he needed to do.

i think joe biden won this debate. i don't think paul yin lost it. and i thought that paul ryan held his own against someone doing this about 100 years. >> and these poll numbers are they interesting and fun to look at? >> there is taking us a while is that it takes a while to figure out, and this is to figure out what happened. i know obama campaign people are adjusting after denver paying a lot of attention to swing states. and said what are people in colorado thinking about this and people in virginia and virginia. he said issue as side he said people got a clear choice on medicare and social security and abortion and other issues. >> and there is what joe biden is doing is bucking up democrats. if independents aren't decided at this point they're probably watching a baseball game tonight. democratsed a terrible week. they've been panicked and what they needed is someone throwing a punch. i think they got that in joe biden tonight. >> there is another segment ahead. straight head there is no doubt about the obama administration did mess up on resp

joe biden's very energetic. out there on the road campaigning and hanging out at dairy queen and comes off younger than he is and paul ryan is a serious man coming across as older and the age difference thing might be a little bit overblown, brooke. >> i was talking to his first real congressional major opponent in 1998 and she pointed out saying to him i could be your mother and we know how well that race ended up for paul ryan. paul and peter, guys, enjoy the debate tonight. i'll be watching. thank you so, so much. just to remind all of you, the big debate, the only vice presidential debate tonight live right here on cnn and cnn.com. our coverage, please join us, two hours in advance, 7:00 eastern. >>> the romney campaign got a big lift from the first debate last week. so, what are the expectations for paul ryan tonight? congressman jeb hinserling tells me next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. now covering 3000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. at&t. rethink possi