Politics & Government

Biden, Ryan Go Toe-to-Toe in Debate: RI Insiders Pick Winner

Vice President candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan squared off in the VP debate on Thursday, Oct. 11, a week after presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney had their first debate. Here's how Rhode Island Republicans and Democrats reacted

Both Rhode Island Republicans and Democrats who responded to our survey feel that their candidate walked away with just a slight victory over the other in last night's vice presidential debate.

Joe Biden and Paul Ryan faced off on Thursday, October 11th at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, with ABC News' Martha Raddatz moderating the debate that covered both domestic and foreign policy.

At the conclusion of the debate, Patch surveyed 52 Republicans and 51 Democrats, asking who they thought won the debate. Sixty-two percent of the Republicans who responded said Ryan won by only a slight margin, while 23% said he won by a large margin. Only 15% were neutral.

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When we asked the Democrats the same question 67% responded that Biden won the debate by a slim margin, while 33% thought Biden won the debate by a wide margin. 

Our next survey question asked both Democrats and Republicans who they thought the national media would declare the winner. One-hundred percent of the Democrats surveyed thought the media would declare Biden the winner by only a slim margin.

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Forty-six percent of the Republicans who responded to our survey felt Paul Ryan would be declared the winner by only a slim margin as well. However 23% of the Republicans felt that Joe Biden would be declared the winner by the national media by only a slim margin. Thirty-one percent of the Republicans surveyed said they were neutral on this question.

Republicans who responded to our survey were not so confident that Paul Ryan's performance would help Mitt Romney get more votes in the Ocean State. When we asked that question only 31% strongly agreed that Ryan's performance would help get the Romney-Ryan ticket more votes in Rhode Island. Thirty-nine percent said they were neutral on whether Ryan's performance would help get more votes. The rest of the Republicans were split with 15% somewhat agreeing that Ryan helped the ticket last night, while the other 15% somewhat disagree that his performance would get more votes in Rhode Island.

When we turned to Democrats asking if Joe Biden's performance Thursday would help get President Obama more votes in Rhode Island, 100% only somewhat agreed that the Vice President's performance would help with votes.

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Our surveys are not a scientific random sample of any larger population but rather an effort to listen to a swatch of influential local Republican and Democratic activists, party leaders and elected officials in Rhode Island. All of these individuals have agreed to participate in surveys, although not all responded to this week's questions.

Patch will be conducting Red Rhody and Blue Rhody surveys throughout 2012 in hopes of determining the true sentiment of conservatives and liberals on the ground in Rhode Island. If you are an activist, party leader or elected official and would like to take part in our surveys that lasts just a few minutes, please email Rick Couto, Regional Editor at rick.couto@patch.com.

Blue Rhody Survey Roster: Frank Hyde, Ted Jendzejec, Scott Guthrie, Gary Cote, Jared Nunes, Patricia Serpa, Kathy Patenaude, Lisa Tomasso, June Speakman, Joy Hearn, Anthony Arico, Mary Gasbarro, Jeffrey Breener, James Sheehan, Raymond Gallison, Louis Dipalma, John Edwards, Michael Sepe, John Lanni, Richard Santamaria, Joseph DeLorenzo, Judi Liner, Candy Seel, Bruce Rogers, Robert DaSilva, Joseph Polisena Frank Lombardo, Jennifer Russo, Carol Costa, Arnie Vecchione, Charles Tsonas, Vimala Phongsavanh, Gregg Amore, Joel Monteiro, Michael Morin, David Barboza, Catherine Tattrie, Kenneth Marshall, Antonio Teixeira, Raymond Gallison, Jan Malik, Marc Dubois, Mark Schwager, Carolyn Mark, Deidre Gifford, Tom Plunkett, Eugene Quinn, Chrissy Rossi, Bud Cicilline, Caroline Stouffer, Lou Raptakis, Stephen Ucci

Red Rhody Survey Roster: Glenford Shibley, Nicholas Kettle, Carl Mattson, Keith Anderson, Patricia Morgan, john Robitaille, Christopher Ottiano, Jonathan Harris, Steve Primiano, Bill DeWitt, Geoff Grove, Scott Fuller, David bates, Carol Hueston, Jim McGuire, Mark Zaccaria, Joel Johnson, Doreen Costa, Elizabeth Dolan, Robert Carlin, Ronald Warr Jr., Jack Savage, John Ward, Dan Gendron, Halsey Herreshoff, Chris Stanley, Mark Smiley, Marina Peterson, Bryan Palumbo, Joseph Golembeski, Joe Procaccini, Blake Filippi, Eileen Grossman, Mike Stenhouse, Joseph Trillo, Gail Ricky, Dawson Hodgson, Chuck Newton, Michael Isaacs, Jeff Cianciolo, Carl Hoyer, Ted Czech, Joanne Mower, Luisa Abatecola, David Sullivan, Clark Smith, Liz Smith, Mark Gee, Brad Bishop, Peter Costa Jr., Bruce Saccoccio, Mike Chippendale


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