RUTHFULLY YOURS

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is famous among his supporters and opponents alike for two traits: his public tendency to put his foot in his mouth on an embarrassingly regular basis, and his great personality. Biden, it is said by those who know him on Capitol Hill, may have a problem articulating the positions of his administration, but he is a “really nice guy.”

It is due to the former that I was confident he would get clobbered by Congressman Paul Ryan in Thursday night’s vice presidential debate. President Barack Obama’s campaign team was clearly worried about that, too. Following Governor Mitt Romney’s slam-dunk victory over Obama in last Wednesday’s presidential debate, Biden spent the week being coached and prepped within an inch of his life, to prevent him from making a fool of himself when he came up against Ryan.

Though it is said that vice presidential debates do not sway voters one way or the other, it is nevertheless important for running mates to exhibit their wares. After all, it is the second-in-command who automatically becomes the leader of the country if the president becomes incapacitated. Because Biden has held the position of “veep” for nearly four years, while his considerably younger contender is far less known to the electorate, it would make sense for Ryan to be the one sweating at the possibility of losing the first and only vice presidential debate.

But Ryan had a few key things going for him, chief among them the state of the nation under the Obama administration. It is always easier to attack failed government policies than to defend them. Another strike in Ryan’s favor was his own attractive demeanor and serious political and ideological convictions. Last but not least was the boost in morale he and his party got as a result of Romney’s recent surge in the polls.

Meanwhile, the Obama camp has been suffering blow after blow, most recently the revelation of its having lied outright about the terrorist attack in Libya that killed four Americans, including the ambassador. For days on end, the administration has been contradicting itself, claiming not to have known in advance about the planned attack on the consulate, then changing its story back again.

Even the employment statistics that the government has been touting as evidence of an upswing in the economy have been shown to be misleading. Not that this really matters. The millions of people out of work, many of whom have given up seeking jobs, don’t judge their finances based on the release of data in newspapers they can’t even afford to buy.

All of this is why Biden knew, or was told, that he was going to have to go on the offensive when facing Ryan. Not only would he need to get the upper hand before it got him, but all the president’s men and women were counting on him to undo some of the damage Obama had wreaked during his debate against Romney a mere eight days earlier.

This explains why Biden was aggressive from the get-go, pounding home his points like a trooper for the cause. Even when he stumbled here and there, he managed to soldier on and not let himself get as tripped up on his own tongue as he usually does.

This is not to say that he beat Ryan. On the contrary, Ryan was just as prepared, if not more so, for the show-down. He was certainly better-spoken and more intelligent. And, in the final analysis, he won the debate.

Ironically, however, it was not the arguments that tipped the scales in Ryan’s favor. Rather, it was Biden’s shockingly rude behavior throughout the debate that caused viewers to cringe. So blatant was his disdain for his opponent that people were hard-pressed to remember what either of them had actually said. Indeed, every time it was Ryan’s turn to speak, Biden laughed out loud and held a toothy grin in place from ear to ear, like an arrogant Cheshire Cat up to no good.

Not only that. He referred to certain of Ryan’s statements as “malarkey’ and “stuff.”

Finally, at the very end, he grimaced when Ryan — who had behaved with respect and gravitas throughout — thanked him politely for the opportunity to have debated with him.

It turns out that I was right to have been sure that Biden didn’t stand a chance against Ryan, but for the wrong reasons. It seems that his coaches had been so busy teaching him not to flub that they forgot to tell him to mind his manners. For someone purported to be such a “nice guy,” he sure came across as a creep. On that score alone, Ryan ran rings around him. Perhaps that will serve to wipe the smirk off his smug face.

Ruthie Blum is the author of “To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the ‘Arab Spring,’” now available on Amazon and in bookstores in Europe and North America.