Memo to Joe, Re: Debate with Rightwing Zealot by Robert Reich

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/10/11-1


Congressman and vice presidential Paul Ryan will debate Vice President Joe Biden tonight. (AP)

TO: VPOTUS

FROM: Robert Reich

RE: Debate

Beware: Paul Ryan will appear affable. He’s less polished and aggressive than Romney, even soft-spoken. And he acts as if he’s saying reasonable things.

But under the surface he’s a rightwing zealot. And nothing he says or believes is reasonable – neither logical nor reflecting the values of the great majority of Americans.

Your job is to smoke Ryan out, exposing his fanaticism. The best way to do this is to force him to take responsibility for the regressive budget he created as chairman of the House Budget Committee.

Ryan won’t be able to pull a Romney — pretending he’s a moderate — because the Ryan budget is out there, with specific numbers.

[sandyshoes17]

1. It will be hard for him to lie that much

His ideas are on paper. He won't be able to say " that's not my policy". Hopefully he won't get away with what Romney did

[AleksS]

2. I disagree,

I disagree. Remember the convention speech? Lyin, to Ryan, is second nature. He relies on a complicit media that we all know will rate both the VP and Ryan as "just as bad" when fact checked, no matter if Ryan says the sky is green and the moon is made of cheese. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he came right out and denied that he's even the "Paul Ryan" referred to in the "Paul Ryan Budget," and of course politifact would rate that "mostly true."

His ideas may be on paper, but it doesn't matter. No one's going to read the actual Ryan budget, and the media will never call out his lies in any substantive way.

I thought, after marathon-gate, that maybe, just maybe, the media was willing to call Ryan out on his lies, but unfortunately, if Runner's World (Runner's World for crying out loud!) doesn't do the work of real journalists, no one will.

[Cosmocat]

6. It is going to be interesting - IMO

He is different from Romney in that he won't play issues on both sides.

The budget, yes, the bizarro world where you can have massive tax cuts but it somehow balances, he will absolutely try to sell that BS. He will try to say that privatizing medicare will save it.

On the economy/budget, he truly believes that extreme right policies somehow will magically make the world better.

Cutting through that nonsense is always a challenge.

But, he won't, for instance, try to flex to the middle on abortion.

He is a right wing ideologue and he won't try to pretend to be anything but that.

I think we have seen that he just punts when the specifics of his economic/tax policy are scrutinized beyond the banal right wing platitudes.

I think that is the key to the debate. I think a good quip for Biden will be, "you refer to yourself as a NUMBERS MAN, explain ...."

Also, he has a voting record, I suspect that Biden will be able to hit him pretty hard on the disconnect between the charges he levies against the president and his record, and how he has voted in a manner to work against success for America.

Finally, Ryan is going to avoid foreign policy like a vampire avoids garlic.

I think game plan for Biden will be:

1) Drill at the numbers - hope to get Ryan into one of these moments he is prone to just punt
2) Highlight Ryan's voting record - hope to get Ryan into one of these moments he is prone to just punt
3) Pile on when they talk foreign policy

[Bluenorthwest]

3. He sure can simply deny his policy, if his opponent allows him to do that.

What's to stop him? If Joe does not stop him, there is nothing to stop him, same as Mitt.
A lying liar has to be named, and forced to the moment of truth. If you don't, they just keep lying. Our entire culture, starting with DU, needs to stop letting liars lie with impunity. Lying is easy as pie if no honest person counters the liar.

[pangaia]

5. I also disagree.

Over half the electorate is too dumb to ever notice. They will vote for their fellow brainless ditto heads. It's much easier to say 'ditto' than think and use 3 syllable words.

[Doctor_J]

11. At the RNC he said SImpson-Bowles passed and "was presented to the president for signature"

That is as big and stark a lie as you can get. There is no lie he won't tell.

[olegramps]

4. As my grandmother said, you can prevent a theft, but you can't escape a liar.

[thesquanderer]

7. Biden's job isn't to make Ryan look bad...

...it's to use the debate to make Romney look bad.

[Liberalagogo]

8. Just

make the jackass do some math. He'll implode on camera.

[cojoel]

9. If he talks about the 700+ million from medicare

I think a response along the lines of "As President Clinton suggested, you do have 'brass' if nothing else".

[AlinPA]

10. The story will be that Ryan is young, sincere, energetic, soft-spoken, intelligent, ..... it does

not matter what he says, only how he looks. Issues do not matter in this "debate". People and media only look at body language and acting on that stage.

[libodem]

12. From God's lips

To Joe's ears. Please, be listening my friend.

[woo me with science]

13. He will say that Romney is the top of the ticket,

and he will faithfully carry out what President Romney supports.

[marlakay]

14. Ryan is a smooth liar

First time I saw him give a speech I was blown away by how careful and calm he speaks while he lies.

I like joe a lot but feel for him, after Obama a ton of pressure is on him to do well.