Pity the poor Vice-President. John Adams, the first Vice-President, once described the oft-deprecated position as “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.” In 1848, when Daniel Webster was offered the Veep spot on the Whig Party ticket, he replied, “I do not propose to be buried until I am really dead and in my coffin.” Ouch.
As John Cassidy points out over on his blog, Rational Irrationality, Vice-Presidential debates have had, historically, very little impact on Presidential elections. Yet, he writes, to dismiss tomorrow night’s debate between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden in Danville, Kentucky, as mere diversion would definitely be a mistake. Biden and Ryan are both expert politicians with canny instincts (even with Biden’s propensity for verbal gaffes). And, after Obama’s listless display last Wednesday, a masterful performance by one of them could influence the momentum of the race in his running mate’s favor. As we wait for tomorrow’s matchup, we thought we’d provide a guide to the pieces The New Yorker has run on each man over the past few years:
Joseph Biden
• George Packer, “A Democratic World,” February 16, 2004
• Jeffrey Goldberg, “The Unbraiding,” March 21, 2005
• Ryan Lizza, “Biden’s Brief,” October 20, 2008
• Bill Barol, “My Name Is Joe Biden and I’ll Be Your Server,” October 1, 2012
Paul Ryan
• George Packer, “Deepest Cuts,” April 25, 2011
• James Surowiecki, “Call That a Budget?,” April 9, 2012
• Ryan Lizza, “Fussbudget,” August 6, 2012
• John Cassidy, “Who is Mitt Romney?,” August 27, 2012
Biden illustration by Robert Risko. Ryan illustration by Jorge Arévalo.
See our full coverage of the campaign season at The Political Scene.
