Letter: Biden’s Blustery Boorishness

The following letter was written and submitted to the Charlottesville Daily Progress the night of the Vice Presidential debate, and published in the paper today:

Yelling, shouting will not reap civilized, constructive talks

By: John S.Rosenberg | Albemarle County

Published: October 22, 2012

The headline of The Daily Progress story on the vice presidential debate says “…Biden, Ryan at each other on everything” (Oct. 12, online). Many voters are frustrated and angry over the excessive, vitriolic partisanship that characterizes our politics today, a lack of comity that has become so extreme that it is exceedingly difficult even to have a civil conversation with a person of the opposite political persuasion, much less for the two parties to work together to get anything constructive done.

Vice President Biden’s performance may have pumped up Democrats dispirited by President Obama’s poor showing in his first debate with Gov. Romney, but voters who want presidential leadership that is principled but capable of sitting down and working with leaders of the opposition party, not shouting at them, probably saw more of what they seek in Ryan’s calmness than in Biden’s blustery boorishness.

 

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