Eight days after President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney faced off in the first presidential debate of the 2012 election, their two running mates will take their turn on stage.

The first and only vice presidential debate between SU alumnus and Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan will air live Thursday at 9 p.m. ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Martha Raddatz will moderate the debate, which will be held at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.

Romney is riding a slight bump in recent polls following his strong showing in the first debate, according to an Oct. 8 Pew Research Center Poll.

The Democratic Party is hoping Biden’s debate performance will slow Romney’s current momentum, according to an Oct. 9 Reuters article

At 69 years old, Biden is 27 years older than the Republican candidate. Biden is also a veteran of two presidential campaigns and has served 36 years in the Senate, compared to Ryan’s 14 in the House, according to the article.

In an interview with Michigan radio host Frank Beckmann, Ryan predicted that, because the Democratic Party “had a bad debate,” he expects Biden to “come flying” at the Republican Party.

“They’re just going to call us liars for a month, is basically what they’re going to do,” Ryan said in the interview. “Hopefully, with enough mudslinging back and forth and distortion, people will get demoralized and then they can win by default.”

Thomas Keck, chair of the political science department, said he thinks Biden will criticize the Romney/Ryan economic plan and, more specifically, possible tax cuts for wealthy Americans and effects on Medicare.

“President Obama mentioned these issues at last week’s debate, but since most viewers have characterized his performance in that debate as ineffective, Biden is likely to advance these critiques as clearly as he can,” he said.

If the opportunity presents itself, Keck said he believes Biden will bring up some of the social issues that were not discussed in last week’s presidential debate.

The two candidates present starkly different views on many social issues, most notably of abortion, LGBT rights and gun control.

Both candidates, in typical vice presidential form, have shown more willingness than their running mates to unbutton their collars and “play the role of attack dog,” according to the article.

Although there is only one vice presidential debate, the candidates’ performance may factor heavily into what is already shaping up to be a very close election, according to the article.

Published on October 11, 2012 at 1:37 am

Contact Michael: mahacker@syr.edu