The truth is that Joe handled it beautifully. He took a moment to collect himself and then said this.
Look, I don't doubt his [Romney's] personal generosity, and I understand what it's like. When I was a little younger than the congressman, my wife was in an accident, killed my daughter and my wife, and my two sons survived. I have sat in the homes of many people who've gone through what I went through because the one thing you can give people solace is to know they know you've been through it, that they can make it.But don't we HAVE to ask ourselves whether this was simply Ryan being unbelievably insensitive or was he being devastatingly devious in an attempt to throw Biden off his game?
P.S. This story from Ryan came after Biden's first reference to Romney's remarks about the 47%. Ryan knew that was coming and this is the story he picked to use as a response. So it didn't just surface in the heat of the moment. It was planned.
Why was this surprising? Palin did the same damn thing and you KNOW she didn't know diddly about Biden before she started prepping for the debate. These guys think that if you can get under the skin, you can make the other guy lose control and then he shows up as a total loser asshole.
ReplyDeleteThey cannot concieve of grace under pressure, because they have none and what little they have been exposed to is perceived as weakness.
They are sociopaths that cannot see humanity.
Afternoon, SP. Personally, I think it was one of those perfectly crafted bit of GOP insensitivity AND ignorance.
ReplyDeleteGOP regularly try to copy/mimic feelings and actions they really do not have or understand and it comes across mostly as bogus and crass. I imagine them reasoning that the accident 'worked' to build compassion for VP Joe and his family so a variation thereof will do the same for Romney. IMO GOP clearly make no difference between real life and a 'story'. Somewhat like Ryan using VP Joe's reputation of saying the 'wrong' thing as a parallel for Mitt's 47% speech. I believe GOP planners and movers cannot SEE that voters CAN SEE the difference between real emotions and practised/manufactured emotion.
I'd say Ryan wasn't trying to throw VP Joe off his game so much as he was trying to provide a narrative that would swing some of the public's compassion Mitt's way. An accident 'worked' for Joe, so why shouldn't it for Mitt? I see them as playing a 'game' while looking for solutions they think will secure a 'win' - nothing more or less.
Thanks you guys. I'm just so seriously pissed off about it!
ReplyDeleteThe truth is that we'll never know the answer to my question.
But the one thing that we can know for sure is that Paul Ryan doesn't have an ounce of compassion is his body.
Given the tenor of the republican campaign this year, I vote it was deliberate and devious. The plan was to throw Biden off his game. It failed spectacularly, but since when have GOP dismissed a plan because it is awful and likely to result in epic fail.
ReplyDeleteI am sure I am missing a big chunk of the commentary here! I thought the point of the VP debate is to give Americans a chance to size up these 2 guys who might step into the Chair of the President. We already know VPJoe has met that test more than once. So the question is only Ryan! He should have been on stage alone with a 3-person panel of moderators grilling him on a)politics b)domestic policy and c) foreign affairs! The "debate" did none of this.
ReplyDeleteSmilingl8dy
'Afternoon, Ms. Pants
ReplyDeleteMay not talk you down from this other than to keep in mind that it didn't work.
Like Derfarm and geejayeff are saying, my read was that it was tactical as evidenced by Palin having done it, too. A number of people have been talking about this.
I'm one who believes all of this, starting with the Convention, is strategic. PBO's job in debate #1 was to get Rmoney to expose himself (which he wouldn't have tried to do in the "rope-a-dope" fashion had he not had the standing in the pols that he has). Joe's was to speak to us - the base (including those older black women).
And, now we have the: "Thirsting For An Answer" add. Next up...
PBO talks directly to the people.
Agree that it was absolutely intentional. I have a feeling that the Romney team had decided that 47% was the cue to talk car accident and Ryan did as told.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't get but what give me hope is that intentional or no it points to a shockingly poor understanding about how most people work. When I found out in 2008 about the accident it was devastating. Here was a guy I'd know of since senior year of high school (a girl in my class wanted him to get the Democratic nomination leading up to the 88 election), and he'd just been this Democrat I knew of but didn't want to vote for. Then I imagined the incredible loss and it made me care very much for this person I'd never met, and admire him that he dedicated himself to public service after such pain.
He's had decades to have mention of it throw him off and it hasn't. All reference to it does it make him seem, justifiably, both more human and superhuman at the same time, somehow. It's the worst thing the GOP can bring up from their perspective because it evokes such sympathy and respect for Biden.
A long way of saying that the other side really has problems that I think will keep them out of the White House, but which will make for a real disaster if they get in.