Reaction to last night’s vice-presidential debate fall predictably along party lines.
Democrats are ecstatic, saying Joe Biden wiped the floor with Paul Ryan.
Republicans were appalled with Biden’s tactics – mugging for the camera, consistently talking over Ryan, etc. – and hoped that independents would see Biden as rude and boorish - a loudmouthed bully.
While Biden’s tactics were better suited to an argument in a bar, and would have seen him disqualified in any high-school debate, they seem to have worked. Surveys of uncommitted voters showed more (about 50%) thought Biden won than Ryan (31% in one survey).
Very little of what they had to say seems to have registered, so it’s hard to say that either candidate scored major points on substance.
The whole thing brings to mind three similar axioms:
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. —Proverbs 26:4 (King James version)
Never argue with a fool; onlookers may not be able to tell the difference. —Mark Twain
And finally, George Carlin’s famous advice. - Don’t argue with idiots because they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.
Good post Bob.
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