U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, right, and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan depart the stage following their debate on Thursday, October 11. See the many expressions of Vice President Joe Biden during the debate.
Editor's note: Alan Schroeder, a professor in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University, is the author of "Presidential Debates: 50 Years of High-Risk TV."
(CNN) -- Add another chapter to the illustrious history of freewheeling vice presidential debates. At Centre College in Kentucky, Joe Biden and Paul Ryan engaged in what might euphemistically be described as a lively exchange of ideas. In reality it felt more like a testy verbal brawl between father and son. Consider these key 5 moments from the debate.
Ryan: No need to apologize
This is a well played moment by Ryan, one of his best of the debate. He has a specific argument to make, and he fleshes out that argument clearly and logically. Ryan also delivers the material in an effective way. You can see his face become more animated as he speaks, and he uses simple rhetoric to express his doubts about the Obama administration's handling of the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya.
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Biden's strategic anger
In this clip, Biden delivers the attack everybody had expected President Obama to launch in the first debate. Biden is sharply critical of disparaging comments made by Mitt Romney and Ryan about Americans who, for one reason or another, do not pay income tax. This is classic Biden. He takes a large philosophical abstraction about the role of government in people's lives and personalizes it, citing his parents, his neighbors, the people he grew up with, seniors, veterans and soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. It's quite a list, and he delivers it convincingly and passionately.
Ryan pushes back on the 47% remark
This represents an attempt by Ryan to use humor to deflect a negative, in this case Romney's now-famous comment about the 47% of Americans who don't pay taxes. Debate strategists plan these moments in advance, but it is impossible to predict how they will actually play. In joking about Biden's propensity for verbal gaffes, Ryan is suggesting that Romney mangled his words when referring to the 47%. Ryan does a decent job delivering the line that had been written for him, and he even gets a laugh from the audience. But in the final analysis there's not much Ryan or anyone else can do to counteract the damage caused by Romney's original comment.
Biden: Now you're Jack Kennedy?
In this exchange the two candidates struggle to dominate the conversation -- again, I am reminded of a father and son going at it over the dinner table. The look of feigned incredulity on Biden's face as Ryan speaks is priceless. For his part, Ryan can barely contain his exasperation at being talked over. Biden's line -- "Oh, and now you're Jack Kennedy" -- is a not too subtle allusion to the classic vice presidential debate putdown from 1988, when Lloyd Bentsen told Dan Quayle, "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." Ryan attempts to laugh off the insult, but he seems a bit rattled here. Biden appears to have hit a nerve. Shouldn't candidates know by now that it's never safe to invoke John F. Kennedy in a presidential debate?
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Ryan loses his cool
Stylistically this is one of Ryan's low points in the debate. Unsure how to handle Biden's perturbed tone, Ryan loses his cool. He begins squirming in his chair and moving his neck like a bobblehead doll. At a couple of points he emits a strange, snort-like chuckle, a sound that does not exactly enhance his maturity. For the most part in this debate, Ryan did not let an overbearing Biden get under his skin, but not in this clip.
Let's give Ryan credit where credit is due. Before the debate he predicted that Biden would come at him "like a cannonball," and indeed he did. Though it wasn't always pretty, Biden managed to dominate the evening, an old lion who had no intention of being taken down by the young gun sitting across the table.
Like a master thespian on opening night, Biden conspicuously deployed pretty much his entire bag of performing tricks: dramatic line-readings, huge smiles, exaggerated laughter, asides to the audience. As over-the-top as some of this became, it got the job done. For much of the debate the super-charged veep kept his opponent in a defensive crouch. At times it looked as if Ryan was afraid Biden might ground him and take away the car keys.
Ryan did have his moments in this debate, but overall he came across as not quite seasoned enough for the office he seeks. Undergirding every vice presidential debate is the question of which candidate is ready to step into the Oval Office at a moment's notice. By this standard, Ryan failed to hit the mark.
Which is not to suggest that the man has no future in presidential politics. The years will obviously take him beyond the problem of immaturity. If Mitt Romney loses this election, it is not inconceivable that four years from now Ryan and Biden might even end up back onstage together, as co-stars in a presidential debate.
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Overall, this debate's most striking characteristic was the age gap between candidates. In the optics of televised debates a generational difference can cut either way: the older candidate might look out of date and past his prime, or wise and experienced. The younger candidate might look fresh and energetic, or not ready for prime time. In this case, Biden's age tended to work in his favor; Ryan's youth worked against him.
Beyond the matter of gravitas, Biden won the debate for a second reason: he managed to put on the table most of the issues that President Obama failed to raise in Denver. This was a tricky maneuver, but for the most part Biden accomplished his mission. This allows Obama to hit the reset button for his rematch with Romney next week.
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Alan Schroeder.
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President Barack Obama watches the vice presidential debate aboard Air Force One with staff while heading home from Florida on Thursday.
Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan walk off stage after the vice presidential debate.
Vice presidential candidate Ryan greets family following his debate with Vice President Biden.
Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan mingle with their families after the debate.
Vice President Biden smiles during the debate.
Rep. Paul Ryan listens closely during the debate.
Vice President Biden and vice presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Ryan go head to head in the first and only vice presidential debate.
Vice President Biden reacts to comments made during the debate.
Vice presidential candidate Ryan lays out his views.
Vice President Biden responds to points made.
Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan engages the moderator during the vice presidential debate.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, engages in the first and only vice presidential debate on Thursday, October 11.
Vice President Biden reacts during the debate.
Vice President Biden and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan face off.
Vice President Biden greets Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan as they take the stage.
Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the vice presidential debate as moderator Martha Raddatz looks on.
Vice President Biden, left, and Republican vice presidential candidate Ryan, right, participate in the debate.
Ryan speaks during the debate.
Biden presents his views on Thursday.
Ryan awaits his turn to speak.
Vice President Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan before the vice presidential debate.
Janna Ryan, wife of Paul Ryan, waves to the crowd.
Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Joe Biden, greets the crowd.
An audience member holds a debate program.
Debate moderator Martha Raddatz speaks to the crowd prior to the start of the vice presidential Debate.
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