Northwest Indiana Discussion

DETROIT – Revving up a crowd at a Detroit high school, Vice President Joe Biden offered up one of his father’s old adages to illustrate the tenacity the people of Detroit possess as their city works to recover from the crisis in the auto industry.

“My dad used to say you measure a man or woman – it wasn’t whether they got knocked down, but how quickly they got up. And guess what? Detroit’s getting back up,” Biden told an estimated crowd of 1,100 packed into a narrow hallway at Renaissance High School Wednesday.

Detroit’s unemployment rate remains more than a point above the national average, sitting at 9.7 percent in June, but over the past three years, the unemployment rate in the city has decreased dramatically from its 27.8 percent rate in July 2009. Michigan’s unemployment rate rose last month, jumping from 8.6 percent in June to 9 percent in July.

Biden, who called Mitt Romney a “decent” man despite boos emanating from the crowd, knocked the presumptive GOP nominee for the 2008 New York Times op-ed he penned with the headline “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” saying that the president’s approach to dealing with the auto industry proved successful.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) will introduce President Barack Obama during prime time this evening at the final night of the Democratic National Convention.

Vice President Joseph Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, will address delegates at the Time Warner Cable Arena during the 9 p.m. hour, convention organizers announced. And no one is more disappointed about Biden’s speaking slot than Republicans, who have taken to Twitter to campaign for the gaffe-prone vice president to speak during the nationally televised 10 p.m. hour instead.

CBS and ABC news will air the DNC’s program only during the 10 p.m. hour, according to MarketWatch. NBC will air a full two hours tonight because it showed the NFL season opening game last night.

Biden made for a frequent punching bag at last week’s GOP convention in Tampa. At the podium, several speakers joked about the former Senator’s propensity for verbal gaffes.

Vice President Joe Biden got caught in a stunning photo with a female biker sitting on his lap.

The Associated Press snapped the shot at Cruisers Diner in Seaman, Ohio on Sunday.

A White House pool report says the bikers may be part of a group called the Shaddowmen.” No details were available on their real names or what discussion led to the lap incident.

Some observers were quick to joke that Biden is starting to resemble the working-class parody Biden seen in The Onion.

Earlier in the diner visit, Biden made banter with biker Jeff Cook,

“Can I borrow one of your bikes? They don’t let me ride anymore.”

“Probably not,” Cook said.

“Probably not,” the Veep responded, according to the pool report.

Vice President Joe Biden drew on the sorrow of his own personal losses as he addressed the memorial marking 11 years since United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field.

“It is a bittersweet moment for the entire nation,” Biden told families, friends and dignitaries gathered at the memorial to the 40 passengers and crew who died on Sept. 11, 2001.

“We wish we didn’t have to be here, wish we didn’t have to commemorate any of this,” he said, drawing on his own sudden loss, when his first wife and young daughter just before Christmas in 1972.

Vice President Joe Biden used stronger language than he wanted reported when he extended a “no bulls–t” White House beer invitation to a group of Pennsylvania firefighters.

Biden told the firefighters that his assistant would contact them about the visit. “He’s going to call you, no bulls–t,” the vice president promised the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department, within earshot of the press pool.

He quickly realized his mistake. “I didn’t know you guys were here,” Biden told the press pool, before rephrasing his pledge. “This is no malarkey. You come to the White House. I’ll buy you a beer.”

President Obama, asked by ABC’s Diane Sawyer if he had a message for Vice President Joe Biden ahead of Thursday’s debate, had a short answer.

“I think Joe just needs to be Joe,” he said.

After Obama’s lackluster debate performance last week, the pressure is on the vice president to reset the race. He will face off against GOP nominee Paul Ryan at Centre College in Danville, Ky., at 9 p.m. Eastern.

Old Dumb Joe came off as rude and condescending, I guess we'll find out what the liberals think as soon as they are told what to think.

Biden hits Ryan for requesting money from economic stimulus package

By Erik Wasson - 10/11/12
Vice President Biden hit Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in their debate Thursday for requesting money from the 2009 economic stimulus bill he has criticized.

Biden brought up two letters that he said the GOP vice presidential nominee wrote to him that requested funds from the stimulus for companies in Wisconsin.

"I am not allowed to show letters, but go on our website. He sent me two letters saying 'by the way, can you send me some stimulus money for companies in Wisconsin?' " Biden said. "I love that, 'this is such a bad program' and he writes me a letter, writes the Department of Energy a letter saying we want money because it will create growth and jobs, in his words."

In 2009, Ryan wrote to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis asking for money to cover costs on two energy conservation projects in Wisconsin.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Joe Biden wiped the floor with Paul Ryan.

http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/pollingcenter/polls/3262

Regardless of which candidate you happen to support, who do you think did the best job in the debate - Joe Biden or Paul Ryan?

Ryan
48%
Biden
44%

Source: CNN/ORC International
Date conducted: 10/11/2012

Poll: Biden takes debate over Ryan, uncommitted voters say

Analysis by Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Anthony Salvanto, Fred Backus and Lindsey Boerma
Fifty percent of uncommitted voters who tuned into Thursday night's vice presidential debate in Danville, Ky., said they see Vice President Joe Biden as the winner over Mitt Romney's GOP running mate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., according to an instant poll taken by CBS News.

Of the 431 polled immediately following the debate, 31 percent deemed Ryan the winner, and 19 percent said they felt it was a tie.

Joe Biden Commanding Stage, Leading Debate: Survey

10/11/2012

Forty minutes into the vice-presidential debate Thursday night, Biden continues to hold the upper hand, according to an instant survey of viewers. About two thirds of the audience polled said Joe Biden was winning, while 36 percent said Paul Ryan was ahead.

The survey, conducted for HuffPost by OverTheShoulder.com, is dubbed a "Smartphone Town Hall" and draws on a random sample of more than 300 voters from across the political spectrum. The members of the panel are watching the debate live and answering questions sent to their phones.

After focusing on foreign policy at the beginning of the debate, the candidates moved to sparring over economic issues, including Social Security and Medicare. Biden's frequent laughter and interruptions of Ryan lent to the perception that he commanded the stage. Half an hour into the debate, 69 percent of watchers said Biden was dominating the forum, compared to 31 percent who said the same of Ryan.

The panel said both candidates seemed about equally calm, with 53 percent saying Biden appeared more relaxed, and 47 percent saying Ryan seemed more so.

The clear winner of the debate so far may be Martha Raddatz. Eighty-eight percent of panelists said she was doing a good or great job as moderator.

Over The Shoulder generally focuses on large, instant focus groups for corporate clients.

A separate panel of several hundred HuffPost readers is also watching the debate live and responding to questions. Those results will be available after the debate.