Posted on 10/14/2012 12:38:07 PM PDT by presidio9
Vice President Biden's sharp retort to Rep. Paul Ryan's invocation of President John F. Kennedy was by far the single biggest single moment of the debate according to Twitter metrics.
"Oh, now you're Jack Kennedy?" Biden quipped when Ryan asserted that Kennedy had successfully lowered taxes to foster economic growth.
After Biden's retort, Twitter erupted with 58,275 tweets per minute, more than at any other point in the debate.
Biden's comments brought to mind the other famous Jack Kennedy debate moment in which Democratic vice presidential candidate Lloyd Bentsen slammed his Republican opponent Dan Quayle for comparing himself to Jack Kennedy with the retort: "Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."
Thursday's debate was in essence a Lloyd Bentsen moment for tax and budget wonks.
Ryan was right that Kennedy advocated lowering taxes, but it may have been Ryan's appropriation of Kennedy's legacy that stung Democrats.
"There is this tremendous love for Jack Kennedy for reasons hard to explain," said Alan Brinkley, a Columbia University American History professor who has written a book about Kennedy. "But Democrats still believe that Jack Kennedy is their great messiah and so I think that's what made so many Democrats angry."
On the tax policy, at least, Ryan was mostly right.
Kennedy did propose lowering taxes early on in his administration, a step he said was necessary to bring the country out of an economic recession.
"If we are to prevail in the long run, we must expand the long-run strength of our economy. We must move along the path to a higher rate of growth and full employment," Kennedy said in his 1963 State of the Union address. "To achieve these greater gains,
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Oh, so now you think you’re Godzilla!
Hard to believe that anybody was actually seriously mad about this -- or even pretending to be mad.
Well, the LEFT wants us to be intimidated by this.
I think Romney should tell Obama:
JFK Cut tax rates
JFK fought Communism
JFK said, ask not what your country can do for you
Mr. President, you are no Jack Kennedy
This bears repeating. Shove it right back to ‘em!
Oh, so now you think you’re Lazamataz!
Probably the Mellon tax cuts, named after the Treasury Secretary of Harding and Coolidge.
Top marginal rate was cut from over 70% down to 24%. This along with Harding cutting government spending to exactly half of the previous administration led to the Roaring Twenties.
Gotta agree, nothing says “stuck on stupid” any better than that!
Let's face it — if JFK were alive now, and not utterly senile, he'd say and do and think the same things the rest of his family says and does and thinks.
And wrapping one's self in any Kennedy's mantle wouldn't necessarily appeal to a lot of Republican voters. So Ryan was right in not making more of the JFK thing.
Obama is going to have to smoke a bunch of crack and bath salts, on a binge starting right now, if he is going to match Biden’s weird performance in the next debate.
Apparently it is a 50-50 opinion split. Many believe as you do. My impression was derived from watching the debate-as did others. I just happened to fall on the side believing Biden’s “Technique” worked. I will not change my vote from Republican to Democrat because I believe Biden won.
[ JFK fought Communism ]
NO he should say, JFK fought SOCIALISM not Communism..
Most Americans have no idea Communism “IS” Socialism..
but the NAZI’s and Italian Fascists were also Socialists..
Best not to bring up the “Bay of Pigs” fiasco..
Kennedy FUBAR’ed that like any democrat would..
He recruited, trained and sent many Cubans to be slaughtered there..
He was completely as dumb as Teddy was, Bobby was marginally smarter..
Personally if I would have remembered it I’d have said something like “At least when I use someone’s words to back up my position, I don’t try to claim they’re my own words.”
Using Kennedy makes a good point though. Forget performance, the real reason is because it shows just how far commie left the libs are today compared to the then-liberal JFK. JFK couldn’t live in the democrat party today. He’d be a Zell Miller.
Malarkey. Jack Kennedy did cut tax rates, growth followed, and Ryan was right. Biteme looked like a horse’s arse.
(deer in headlights look)
He was the shouting stain on the shirt. He was sactually laughing at the attacks in Libya, and at the abuse of our men in AFghanistan. He was off-putting to almost every woman i’ve asked about it. (whether radio or TV watched)
CNN and Luntz focus groups were repelled.
He diminished himself. He was the one with the reputation on a boffoon, an idiot with no self control who has been sequestered for 5 months.
He needed to come out and show people some stability. He didn’t. Ryan admonished him once, politely and firmly.
The final gaffe of Biden was when Ryan was discussing Mitts ability to work with democrats to get something done. Biden started laughing and said how he can never work with republicans.
Biden lost,,, totally.
Question: does anyone know or have a link to polls directly asking about the impact of the Biden laughing debate?
Pollsters say the Obama debate hurt him.
Well, at least JFK had speech writers who read the classics.
Not fully accurate. The CIA started that “invade Cuba” plan under Ike. JFK took office an January of 61. Bay of Pigs was 90 days later. He was not behind the training and equipping of that force. He wanlked in the door and was basically told, “here’s what we’er doing”.
1000 on the beach and a few planes? The plan all along was that they get in trouble and JFK was supposed to come to their rescue with full US military support. They thought they had him boxed in where he had to invade and he didnt.
I know that steams some, but this is at the height of tensions in Berlin, the cold war arms race. The wall was just about to go up. Justified fears of nuclear war were everywhere. In 1961 we lost a B-52 every month simply due to insane SAC training tempos.
Cuba was not a place to be occupied when Berlin popped open, etc.
Kennedy in his personal life was a lout. But as a President he’s far more conservative, and America centered than Bush, Romney, Santorum, Huckster, etc.
I thought Ol’ Joe was going to Channel Lloyd Bentsen there for a moment.
Then, they need to fire their current crop of consultants.
And Grover Nordquisling.
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