WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday night stemmed the political bleeding that started when his boss was trounced in last week's first presidential debate, setting the stage for the next round, analysts said.
Sparks flew Thursday night as Biden came out swinging against Republican vice presidential aspirant Rep. Paul Ryan in the first and only vice presidential debate, aiming to reverse the tide of public opinion that turned in favor of presidential challenger Mitt Romney after he dominated a lackadaisical U.S. President Barack Obama last week.
Thanks to his strong performance at the first presidential debate, Romney now leads in polls by a razor-thin margin, according to Real Clear Politics' nationwide poll average.
While historically vice presidential debates do not move the needle on public opinion, the issues raised may foreshadow the issues addressed in next week's town-hall-style debate between Obama and Romney.
Pundits and polls declared the VP debate a draw, with Biden's feisty performance breathing new vigor into team Obama.
"The vice presidential debate helped Democrats get back into the conversation by contrasting their policy vision with that of the GOP," said Darrell M. West, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution.
"Biden did an excellent job explaining how Republican policies are unfair and why middle class voters should support Obama. This will help the President draw the same types of contrasts with Romney," West said.
Biden's performance convinced the Democratic base that the Obama administration will continue to stand and fight, the analysts said.
However, there may be a cost. Throughout the debate, Biden was seen sneering, jeering and laughing sarcastically at many of the points Ryan tried to make.
Those gestures may not be viewed favorably by independents, who may see them as disrespectful or indicative of a candidate who does not take the country's policies seriously, some analysts said.
As for Ryan, he reinforced his case that economic conditions did not improve enough under the president's watch and that Romney has a plan for jobs, said John Fortier, director of the democracy project at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Also, Ryan showed more dexterity with foreign policy issues than many expected, and he muddied the waters a bit for the Obama administration with his charges on their lack of leadership on Libya, Iran and Syria, Fortier said.
Still, it was something of an uphill battle, as the president's poll numbers on foreign policy are much better than his economic numbers, and Biden has much foreign policy expertise, Fortier said.
Meanwhile, the race in battleground states is tightening, as Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have shifted from leaning toward Obama to being up for grabs, according to Real Clear Politics.
Also on Friday, Romney crossed the 50 percent mark for the first time to widen his lead to four points in Florida. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely Florida voters finds Romney with 51 percent support to Obama's 47 percent.
And that puts even more pressure on the president in the lead-up to next week's second debate with Romney, the analysts said.
