Pre-Debate Thread

There will be an Open Thread for the vice-presidential debate tonight, but in advance of tonight's HOT DEBATE ACTION, I want to share some resources and thoughts...

You will be able to access livestreaming debate coverage at barackobama.com/debate once the debate begins.

Team Obama will once again be livetweeting and factchecking on Twitter: @TruthTeam2012. Also see @Obama2012 for analysis.

As always, I'll be on Twitter, too: @shakestweetz.

Please feel welcome and encouraged to recommend your own or other Twitter feeds, and additional resources, that will be covering, discussing, or providing analysis of the debate.

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Tonight is the only vice-presidential debate, and the major media meme is that Biden has to hit a home run (or equivalently yawnful sports metaphor) after Obama did poorly in the first presidential debate. It would be great if Biden hits a home run, but ultimately this debate is probably not going to have a huge influence on the election, unless either Biden or Ryan says something extraordinary.

Which is a possibility. Biden has a deserved reputation as a gaffe machine, but, on the other hand, he's also very quick-witted and, unlike Mitt Romney, actually knows what a zinger looks like.

Biden is historically a pretty great debater, but as Iain observed during the Obama-Romney debate: "It's hard to debate someone who lies." Ryan will almost certainly use the same strategy of comprehensive dishonesty that Romney did (although it doesn't sit as well on Ryan; he's a much more obvious liar), which will make Biden's biggest challenge trying to navigate a debate that has no basis in reality.

The good news is that Biden is more naturally disposed toward pugnacity than President Obama. He doesn't shy away from confrontation, and he'll be more willing to call out Ryan's mendacity. Also: He has the benefit of being prepared for it.

I will say again that Vice-President Biden need to take every opportunity he's given (or make opportunities, if needs be) to remind US voters that he drafted the Violence Against Women Act, the reauthorization of which his opponents' party is currently holding up in Congress after turning women's basic rights into a political football.

He should also remind US voters that the man standing beside him on the stage is not only hostile to women's agency, but has tried to change the very definition of rape on the federal level.

There is a STARK difference between these two men of the issue of consent and agency. Joe Biden needs to make that clear. Failing to talk about it only helps Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney.

ANYWAY! Discuss. I'll close this thread once the Open Thread is posted later tonight.