Who Did VP Debate Viewers Choose as the Winner?

Vice President Joe Biden and rival Republican Paul Ryan battled fiercely over foreign policy and the economy in a lively debate on Thursday, with Biden aggressively defending the administration's policies and dismissing Ryan's criticism. Seeking to win back the momentum for the Democrats' campaign after a poor debate performance by President Barack Obama last week, Biden frequently went on the attack. At a debate viewing party in heavily democratic Los Angeles, most viewers agree that the vice president's attack dog persistence paid off: Following the widely panned performance of president Obama at the first presidential debate last week, and faced with polls moving in favor of Republican challenger Mitt Romney, many Obama supporters gathered at The Association, a speakeasy-style in downtown Los Angeles, knowing that the stakes were higher for the democrats in the vice presidential debate. For many of them, their fears were wiped away when they saw Biden take a firm approach to Paul Ryan, particularly challenging him on the factual basis of many of his positions. Most, if not all of the people gathered at The Association were Obama/Biden supporters, which is to be expected given Los Angeles' and California's heavily democratic leanings. However, many interviewees expressed their disappointment in Obama following last week's debate, and believe that Biden's debating skills turned the game around in the president's favor once more. Biden took the offensive early, providing the emotion and passion that Obama was criticized for lacking in last week's debate with Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Ryan stood his ground, and the vice presidential candidates for the November 6 election frequently interrupted each other and talked at the same time. Democrats were counting on a forceful performance from Biden to reclaim the momentum in the race for the White House after Obama's poor showing led to Romney taking the lead in polls with less than four weeks before the November 6 election.