Poll: Biden's 'Malarkey', 'Antics' Most-Memorable Moment of VP Debate

When we asked influential Democrats and Republicans to say the most-memorable moment of last Thursday night's vice presidential debate as part of our Blue Palmetto/ Red Palmetto surveys, the same answer came up on both sides:

Vice President Joe Biden's response to Rep. Paul Ryan's answers was the most-cited by both parties' backers in South Carolina.

But how they characterized Biden's responses depended on who you asked.

For Democrats, 10 of whom answered our latest Blue Palmetto poll question, Biden was "aggressive" in pushing back against Ryan's answers — calling "malarkey" on one of them within the first portion of the debate.

For Republicans, 26 of whom responsed in our latest Red Palmetto survey, Biden's responses were "antics," "inappropriate" and "crap-eating grins" that made him look like a "fool."

Several Republicans also pointed out Ryan's response to the final question, which included a defense of the conservative party's anti-abortion stance, as a top moment of the debate.

One Republican said: "Ryan's strong statement about the intersection of faith and policy — particularly when it comes to the issue of life" was their moment.

The "winner" of the debate, collected by Patch in the hours following the debate, also fell mostly along party lines. Twenty of the Republicans said Ryan won the debate, with five saying it was "neutral" and one saying Biden won by a slim margin.

Nine of the Democrats said Biden won, by a large margin, while one respondent said the debate was "neutral."

It was the only debate for the vice presidential nominees.

The presidential candidates — President Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney — will hold the third of their four debates on Tuesday night. The final debate comes next week.