Joe Biden, Mitt Romney | featured news

While vice-presidential debates typically don't have much bearing on the presidential contest, tomorrow night's Joe Biden-vs.-Paul Ryan showdown has put pressure on both sides. Team Obama NEEDS a strong performance from Biden to make up for last week and change the subject; another bad outing by a member of the ticket and the Democratic handwringing could turn into a full-fledged panic. Meanwhile, Team Romney needs a solid outing from Ryan to keep up the momentum. As we wrote last week, consider tomorrow night Game 2 of a baseball playoff series. After ace Romney beat ace Obama in Game 1, Democrats are looking for their No. 2 starter, Biden, to even the score. And Republicans are looking to go 2-0. That's what at stake Thursday, and that's why there's more pressure on Biden than on Ryan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Joe Biden and Republican rival Paul Ryan sought votes in political battleground states on Saturday while their running mates took a day off the campaign trail ahead of a potentially make-or-break debate next week.

Vice President Joe Biden drew cheers from the nation's biggest civil rights group on Thursday with a fiery defense of President Barack Obama's record, and he warned that the election of Republican Mitt Romney could reverse years of economic and civil rights gains for blacks.

...Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday portrayed Romney as weak and waffling when it comes to foreign policy, an issue on which Democrats feel they have the advantage in the fall campaign... Biden also repeated what he has said should be the bumper sticker slogan for the Obama campaign: "Bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive."

Since he first stood in the massive shadow of Barack Obama four years ago, Joe Biden has emerged to be a full partner and a great political asset for the president. The unequal nature of their relationship at first was a function of Obama’s unique standing as a candidate, but as he has fallen to earth, Biden’s star has risen. He is becoming an excellent surrogate for the president, taking on some of the essential work of defending the administration and sticking in the shiv when necessary. Biden does the latter with real skill, most of the time. His attack this weekend on Mitt Romney and Republicans as being “a little out of touch” was masterful.