After last week’s lackluster performance from President Barack Obama against Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in the first presidential debate, pundits pointed to Thursday night’s vice presidential standoff as a pivotal moment in the campaign season. But CNN senior political analyst David Gergen didn’t give Vice President Joe Biden credit for setting the campaign on course.
In CNN’s wrap-up of the event, Gergen called it draw on substance.
“I think Joe Biden didn’t do his boss a lot of help tonight,” Gergen said. “Overall on substance, I think it was a draw. Each side will draw a lot of encouragement from it.”
But Biden’s mannerisms, Gergen explained, were the determining factor in giving Ryan a victory.
“But I did want to make a point: On style, I think Paul Ryan won the debate. And that is, Biden, the dismissive laughs, the interruptions, the sort of shouting — I think that Ryan was calmer and frankly more presidential. On style, not substance, I think it was a Ryan victory. On substance, I thought it was a draw.”
(h/t Washington Free Beacon)