Democrats were worried. President Obama had a subpar debate performance last week, his approval ratings were falling, and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney had recently overtaken him in the latest head-to-head poll. The momentum had shifted to Romney, and a Democratic victory that only days before had seemed virtually assured was suddenly uncertain. Even the relatively strong September jobs report could not rescue the Obama-Biden ticket, as Republicans, including former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, criticized it as manipulated to benefit the president. Democrats needed a jolt, and the Obama-Biden team had one final opportunity: the Oct. 11 vice presidential debate.
The debate stakes could not be higher — an average, or even just good, performance from Vice President Joe Biden just would not cut it. He had to be exceptional, and the man who has dedicated 39 years of his life to public service certainly was. I do not believe that Biden dominated the debate, for Congressman Paul Ryan performed well and traded jabs with the vice president. In fact, the post-debate CNN poll showed that 48 percent of Americans believed the congressman won, while 44 percent thought the vice president was victorious (the 4 percent difference is within the poll’s sampling error). But Biden did two things that I believe will leave him ahead in the long-run: he energized Democrats and shifted the narrative.
Biden rekindled the Democratic base by forcefully enumerating President Obama’s accomplishments. He explained that the president ended the war in Iraq, called for the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, and announced a conclusion to the war in Afghanistan. The vice president’s passion carried through to domestic issues, where he noted that the president’s policies rescued GM, helped create 5.2 million new jobs, and proposed the American Jobs Act, which Republicans such as Ryan blocked, that would have created 1.9 million jobs, grown the economy by 2 percent and cut unemployment by 1 percent. Throughout the debate the vice president explained to the American people what all the president has accomplished and, in the process, inspired Democrats to recall the president’s success and remember that although Obama may have had one bad day of debating, he has had an amazing four years of leading.
Biden’s greatest stroke of genius, however, was changing the narrative from President Obama’s debate performance and Jack Welch’s employment claim, to the middle class, equality of opportunity, and upward mobility. As the vice president noted: “My friend [Ryan] says that 30 percent of the American people are takers. Romney points out 47 percent of the people won’t take responsibility. He’s talking about my mother and father. He’s talking about the places I grew up in, my neighbors in Scranton and Claymont, and he’s talking about — he’s talking about the people that have built this country. All they’re looking for, Martha, all they’re looking for is an even shot. Whenever you give them the shot, they’ve done it. They’ve done it. Whenever you’ve leveled the playing field, they’ve been able to move.”
This powerful closing statement, coupled with Biden’s statements during the debate, exemplified the fundamental differences between Obama and Romney, between a “We are in this together” mentality and “You are on your own” mindset. More importantly, Biden repositioned the theme of this election to the singular challenges facing America — rising income inequality and falling social mobility. These hurdles threaten the American dream, leave many Americans struggling to give their children an opportunity to succeed, and trap millions in an inescapable cycle of poverty. By transforming the narrative, outlining the president’s accomplishments, and contrasting the Obama-Biden vision with that of Romney-Ryan, Biden energized Democrats and refocused this election on the insidious inequality that excludes numerous Americans from reaching their dreams.
Neeraj Salhotra, a Rice University senior majoring in classical studies, policy studies and economics, is interested in public policy and global affairs in general, and energy policy and economic policy in particular.