you will dissertation committee members now, teaching the naval history class after paul kennedy. >> brand-new book on the market, "underdogs" is the name of it. "underdogs: the making of the modern marine corps." marine and professor aaron o'connell is the author. >> here's a look at upcoming book fairs and festivals happening around the country:

now teaching the naval history class after paul kennedy. >> brand new book out on the market "underogs" is the name of it the making of the modern marine corps, marine and professor aaron o'connell as the author. >> book tv recently spoke with wayne hsieh to discuss "west pointers and the civil war." the professor was interviewed as part of book tv college series. it's just under 20 minutes. >> u.s. naval academy professor wayne hsieh "west pointers and the civil war" the name of your book. the old army in the war and peace is the subtitle. first of all, what you mean by the old army? >> the old army is a term commonly used by historians. actually from the time period referring to the indian army, the indian fighting army. there's a joke he told army is the army before every war. there's a bunch of old armies. my book actually starts really with a professional was asian of the american army after the war of 1812 enzus. so it's about how that process occurs and the old army how that plays out in the civil war. >> give us a snapshot of what the old army prior to the war of 1812 was like.

paul kennedy. >> host: new book out on the market, "underdogs: the making of the modern marine corp."?? marine and professor aaron o'connell is the awe -- author. >> host: this is the cover of a new book out in august 2012 "seven principles of good government, liberty, people, and politics" written by gary johnson, also the libertarian party nominee for president in 2012. governor johnson, when and why did you leave the republican party and become a libertarian? >> well, you know, i've probably been a libertarian my entire life. it's kind of coming out of the closet. i think there's a lot more americans in the country that declare themselves libertarian opposed to voting libertarian so, you know, the pitch i'm trying to make now is vote libertarian with me, just one time, give me a shot at changing things, and if it doesn't work out, you can return to tyranny, and i'm going to argue that is what we have right now. >> what are the seven principles of good government you write about? >> well, one is being reality based. find out what's what, base decisions and actions on that, make s

, and what we are trying to remedy in the course that we teach my colleagues, charlie hill and paul kennedy, and i on grand strategy at yale, is exposure to the great classical works because there is a reason why people come back to the classics. we go as far back if our course as homer and others. there is a reason why people come back to these works. that is, they contain elemental observations that apply across time, space, and, i think, also scale whether at the top level of leadership or in someone's own personal life. the chekov story, how kennan used chekov as the key to the grand strategic insight in saving civilization. or at least orchestrating the strategy of containment, is, i think, a beautiful illustration for the necessity for including the great classics, the great books in the training of any leader, whatever the leadership role is, that person is aiming for. that's really my message this afternoon, the great books are relevant. i found them to be extraordinary relevant in writing about the great man whose biography i had just finished writing. it caused me to think about t

cyber, but the domains of air, sea, and space and using, commands of the commons, the analog is paul kennedy'snaval mastery, but it's something more. you can essentially get vastly more use of it than others, and credibly deny that to others. that makes possible all the kinds of things we've done in asia to keep the peace or, in some cases, engage in war over the course of the 70 years. that's what's coming under threat more than anything else from china. command of the commons means that you can, as we've done in the persian gulf, use power against a force like in the case of the persian gulf, iraq, before it brings power to bear, and power can't be used, and you can project power as we've done in the asian pacific to quiet the taiwan straits crisis to prevent acue in the philippines and to engage in the tanker wars in the indian ocean. it means you don't have to have all your power resident. there's a huge infrastructure of command to deploy forces any time, anywhere, without much resistance. command of the commons has been key to navalling our on thives in asia. also key, i think, to provid

. >> dan, thank you and paul ryan compared his campaign's plan the cut taxes to kennedy. jfk.parison add up? >>> plus, she was bullied for months and cried out for help in a video she posted on the web and tonight, we learn she couldn't take it anymore. hahahaha! hooohooo, hahaha! this is awesome! folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. i'd say happier than a slinky on an escalator. get happy. get geico. melons!!! oh yeah!! well that was uncalled for. folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy, ronny? happier than gallagher at a farmers' market. get happy. get geico. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. americs natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. >>> welcome back to the s

it exceeded the $4 trillion mark. >>> jack kennedy and paul ryan, perfect together? about them that are similar. both young, energetic, vibrant. paul ryan things they have something in common, joe biden not so sure. the republican candidate invoked a camelot era comparison. this time, the issue taxes. >> you can cut tax rates by 20% and preserve important preferences for middle class taxpayers. >> not mathematically possible. >> it's been done before. >> it's never been done before. >> a couple of times. >> never been done before. >> ronald reagan. >> now you're jack kennedy. >> ronald reagan. >> twitter was atwitter about that. that comment got a noticeable reaction from the group of undecided voters i watched during the debate last night. see it blown up there in the bottom of the screen. here is the problem, both kennedy and reagan working in a different time and place. to start, when both kennedy and reagan took office, individual tax rates not even in the ballpark of what we have now. kennedy's plan, enacted after his death, took the top marginal tax rate from 9

the debate between paul ryan and joe biden. president kennedyise mention with joe biden's sarcastic outburst, now you're jack kennedy sparking the tweets at 58,000 per minute. the debate continued. massive questions on a crucial issue. luckily, brian williams was able to clear up the issue about the lapel pins. >> people were asking, not only is the flag larger, what is the symbol in the middle of field stripes. it's the u.s. secret service pin. they hand it out to friends and protectees. >> before the debate, "time" magazine released these photos. it triggered what was called a dumbbell debate. >>> a search on google images with the phrase completely wrong brings up mitt romney. google says there's no partisan politics here. he used the phrase about his 47% comments. >>> california congressman was debating when things got testy. the rhetoric heated up and sherman got physical. before things escalated into a wrestling match, a police officer stepped in and the debate wrapped up with no injuries. that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. he

defending cuba doesn't, because kennedy and paul knows well he's not planning a full invasion anyway.ir other covert things going on against castro but a full invasion is not probably what he's going to do. so he doesn't immediately jump to the defensive cuba. what he does jump to is a much more global view and he looks halfway around the world to where he feels most vulnerable which is with boeing. he thinks khrushchev has been trying to -- and of course it dates back to stalin trying to push the west up and so this is a festering cold war flashpoint. kennedy feels very vulnerable there and so kennedy thinks perhaps this is about khrushchev trying to leverage something in some way to solve the west problem. he wasn't without some evidence. khrushchev had actually been giving him some evidence that this might've happened through the summer. khrushchev kept talking to american visitors and west german visitors who visited moscow in christian kept ringing up that we are going to bring this up at the united nations after the midterm election and so he'd been broadcasting this to the summ

kennedy. >> joe biden and paul ryan locking horns in the only vice- presidential debate of 2010 -- 2012, rather. the vice president's revival of lloyd bentsen's 1988 barb, here's the results of a poll on who came out on top with randall pinkston. >> i will be very specific. >> reporter: vice president joe biden wasted no time challenging congressman paul ryan's take on foreign policy. >> with all due respect, that's a bunch mularkey. >> and why is that so? >> not a single thing he said is accurate. >> reporter: the vice president and ryan clashed over the economy, taxes and medicare with the democrat often on the attack. >> and they're holding hostage the middle class tax cut. it's about time they take some responsibility. >> reporter: but ryan fired back. he slammed the obama administration's economic record. >> this is not what a real recovery looks like. we need real reforms for a real recovery and that's exactly what mitt romney and i are proposing. >> reporter: after several heated exchanges ryan insinuated that president obama's performance last week was motivating the vice president's --

kennedy. he was not a friend of mine but i feel confident in saying paul ryan is no jack kennedy.ou agree? >> i would agree with that. and he walked right into that. he wahanded that to joe biden a it was hilarious. michael, my friend, literally my friend, not in the joe biden sense, michael is my friend, is in the beltway, i don't mean to dispaur raj beltway reporters, but paul ryan has been given such a pass. he has a reputation for being a worngy guy, good at the numbers. his numbers have never added up. he has this reputation for being a deficit hawk. as joe biden said he voted for the wars, for the new medicare -- >> the prescription drug benefit. >> he voted -- >> the bush tax cuts. >> the bush tax cuts, all of the bush budgets. he voted for a bush stimulus. in addition to voting against obama stimulus but asking for money, he voted for bush stimulus and he described it in his speeches. he was a kecanesian. he's never been forced to be consistent and yet he's hailed as this great economist, this great numbers thinker. >> michael, ryan still had no answer, as joan said shall

kennedy. >> joe biden, paul ryan locking horns last night in the only vice-presidential debate of 2012. -presidential candidates revived lloyd bentsen's 1988 jack kennedy line one of many barbs traded by the candidate last night. >> here's randall pinkston with highlights and results of a poll on who came out the winner. >> i will be very specific. >> reporter: vice president joe biden wasted no time challenging congressman paul ryan's take on foreign policy. >> with all due respect, that's a bunch malarkey. >> and why is that so? >> not a single thing he said is accurate. >> reporter: the vice president and ryan clashed over the economy, taxes and medicare with the democrat often on the attack. >> and they're holding hostage the middle class tax cut. it's about time they take some responsibility. >> reporter: but ryan fired back. he slammed the obama administration's economic record. >> this is not what a real recovery looks like. we need real reforms for a real recovery, and that's exactly what mitt romney and i are proposing. >> reporter: after several heated exchanges, ryan insinuate

kennedy. >> joe biden and paul ryan locking horns in the only vice- presidential debate of 2012.nt's revival of lloyd bentsen's 1988 -- vice president's revival of lloyd bentsen's 1988 barb. >> here's randall pinkston are highlights from the clash in kentucky and results of who came out the winner. >> i will be very specific. >> reporter: vice president joe biden wasted no time challenging congressman paul ryan's take on foreign policy. >> with all due respect, that's a bunch malarkey. >> and why is that so? >> not a single thing he said is accurate. >> reporter: the vice president and ryan clashed over the economy, taxes and medicare with the democrat often on the attack. >> and they're holding hostage the middle class tax cut. it's about time they take some responsibility. >> reporter: but ryan fired back. he slammed the obama administration's economic record. >> this is not what a real recovery looks like. we need real reforms for a real recovery, and that's exactly what mitt romney and i are proposing. >> reporter: after several heated exchanges, ryan insinuated that presiden

kennedy. >> reporter: vice president joe biden and republican challenger, paul ryan, delivered stark difference on domestic and foreign policy. >> we're going in the wrong direction. look at where we are. the economy is barely limping along. >> it shouldn't be surprising for a guy who says 47% of the american people are unwilling to take responsibility for their own lives. they pay more effective tax than governor romney pays in his federal income tax. >> reporter: ryan went after president obama for his response to the u.s. consulate attack in libya. >> it took the president two weeks to acknowledge that this was a terrorist attack. >> reporter: while biden challenged ryan's proposed changes to medicare. >> you are jeopardizing the program. you're changing the program from a guaranteed benefit. >> reporter: it was a more heated back and forth than the first presidential debate. and biden often laughed at ryan's arguments. >> joe biden understood tonight he had to go back out there and do what president obama failed to do last week. >> reporter: with the race still tight for president obama and

paul ryan was full of attacks. >> there has done -- >> 0 now your jack kennedy. >> finger-pointing. >> 23 million americans are out of work today. this is not what a real recovery looks like. >> and a lot of laughs. >> i know you are under a lot of brass -- duress. >> he also challenged mitt romney the's tax plan. >> it should not be surprising geared for a guy who says 47% of people are unwilling to take responsibility. they pay more tax than gov. romney pays. >> the moderator's as the setting was more intimate. >> the jabs at one another, it felt was more personal. >> both sides are claiming victory as the waste no time heading back out on the campaign trail to rally more support. >> it is basically a tie. joe biden brought energy. and paul ryan brought the seriousness the republicans needed. >> today on the campaign trail is back to business for both of them. joe biden will have to hire with mitt romney. first, fighting for virginia. a live picture ready to get under way in richmond. scott thuman is there with a report starting at 5:00 p.m. the meantime, coming up on news at noon, if either going to extremes to

kennedy? >> a battle of the minds among other things. congressman paul we dig into the facts and fictions. >> malarkey, conflating, laughing, shirtless. just a few of the top search terms on google during last night's debate. we have google's election team live on the show this hour. welcome back to "early start" we're happy you're with us. i'm zoraa sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it is friday, finally, october 12th. >> poor guy. he's been up all night. so no one had a bad night. maybe you. >> except for me. >> neither candidate was too polite during last night's bruising debate. there was no knockout punch. but the two vice presidential candidates did manage to land some telling blows. joe biden, the aggressor. paul ryan the cool, counterpuncher. >> here is how you, the voters, scored it. cnn/orc poll taken right after the debate shows 48% of you who watched thought paul ryan won with 44% saying joe biden was the victor. that is pretty much a statistical tie. our senior congressional correspondent and good friend dana bash is live from danville, kent

paul ryan. >> ronald reagan -- >> now you're jack kennedy? >> ronald reagan -- >> "now's" terri o'neal on the romney ticket's disaster for women. >> if the romney/ryan ticket is elected, should those who believe abortion should remain legal be worried? >> david cay johnston on ryan's sixth study lie. >> can you guarantee this math will add up? >> absolutely. six studies have guaranteed. >> and what's more disrespectful? lying to america or interrupting a guy who's lying to america? >> it was openly contemptuous and disrespectful. >> karen finney on the right wing freak-out over joe biden's knockout performance. >> ever felt that way where you just want to deck somebody? >> an obnoxious drunk. i think somewhere during the debate he took ritalin. >>> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. what did we see? we witnessed a schooling on the issues by vice president joe biden last night. it really was the shot in the arm the democrats and the progressives were hoping for. after watching mitt romney get away with lie after lie

voted for because they didn't act. >> bill: and then he was finally ready when paul ryan compared himself to john f. kennedys never been done before. >> it has been done a couple of times, jack kennedy increased growth, ronald reagan -- >> oh now you are jack kennedy? [ laughter ] >> bill: joe didn't have to say you are no jack kennedy, congressman. he didn't have to, because everybody knew what he was referring to. and have to give kudoses to martha raddatz. overall she was aggressive. she didn't lose control. she raised the right topics. asked good questions. followed through with good questions. great job, martha. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." ♪ (vo) during the debates, it's hard to know what candidates are thinking. unless, of course you've stood at the podium yourself. with governors granholm, spitzer, and vice president gore, watch the only truly experienced presidential debate coverage. ♪ >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we go. thirtity-three minutes after the hour. it is friday october 12th. this is the day i have been telling you about. right after the show

for most of you in the audience, when ted kennedy passed away, paul was appointed to serve in his seat until the special election was held in massachusetts. paul resigned at the time, but he was with us for 25 years. we knew that he is sitting in the cape cod right now watching this on c-span. all of us on the commission and the people behind these cameras and the people backstage in lighting and with sound to have been doing this for 25 years, we miss paul and we respect the dedication he did to this commission. our best to him and his wwife, gail. [applause] it is also a special because of the change in the format that you will see tonight for we have seen in the past. the commission for a long time has wrestled with the question pth how can we get more deph in the discussion? you will see this put in place tonight. 90 minutes will be divided into six sections of time. they will cover six different subjects. the moderator tonight will focus on domestic relations and domestic matters. he will have the power to follow up and hopefully drill down and really it speak to the american peop

kennedy. >> as he went on offense against paul ryan. >> joe was definitely joe. >> it's about time they take some responsibility here. >> i'm not into man fights. >> mr. ryan said last night to governor romney was a car guy. well, if they had an elevator stack i guess he was. >> today the campaigning continues the post debate campaigning has already kicked into high gear. >> we're going to level the playing field. it's time to acknowledge what got us into this trouble in the first place. >> the vice president defends the status quo. >> that's a bunch of ma larky. the. >> paul ryan care about each and every american. >> stop caring about how you care about people. show me something. >> the table is now reset. >> with the v.p. debate now over. >> who gets to hit the panic button next? >> with 25 days until the presidential election, the obama re-election campaign is seizing on this statement by paul ryan in last night's debate. >> if the romney/ryan ticket is elected, should those who believe that abortion should remain legal be worried? >> we don't think that unelected judges should make this

paul ryan was full of attacks. >> it has been done a couple of times. >> has never been done. >> jack kennedy lowered tax rates. >now you're jack kennedy! gentleman 23 million minutes are struggling for work. >> i know you're under a lot of duress to make up for lost round. [ laughing ] >> reporter: biden laughed at ryan throughout the debate. he challenged mitt romney's tax plan for aggressively than president obama did in his debate. >> it shouldn't be surprising for a guy who says 47% of the american people are unwilling to take responsibility for their own lives. they pay more effective tax than governor romney pays in his federal income tax. >> reporter: the moderator martha raddatz set it was more intimate. >> the jabs felt more personal. >> reporter: both sides claiming victory as they head back on the campaign trail to rally more support. debate was a tie. biden brought energy the democrats wanted and ryan brought seriousness the republicans needed. >> reporter: romney and ryan are campaigning to the in ohio. biden is hitting the trail in wisconsin with anticipation building for the second presidential de

paul ryan was full of attacks. >> it has been done a couple of times. >> has never been done. >> jack kennedy lowered tax rates. >now you're jack kennedy! gentleman 23 million minutes are struggling for work. >> i know you're under a lot of duress to make up for lost round. [ laughing ] >> reporter: biden laughed at ryan throughout the debate. he challenged mitt romney's tax plan for aggressively than president obama did in his debate. >> it shouldn't be surprising for a guy who says 47% of the american people are unwilling to take responsibility for their own lives. they pay more effective tax than governor romney pays in his federal income tax. >> reporter: the moderator martha raddatz set it was more intimate. >> the jabs felt more personal. >> reporter: both sides claiming victory as they head back on the campaign trail to rally more support. debate was a tie. biden brought energy the democrats wanted and ryan brought seriousness the republicans needed. >> reporter: romney and ryan are campaigning to the in ohio. biden is hitting the trail in wisconsin with anticipation building for the second presidential de

kennedy assassination. >> a woman maintained their innocence. katey court is joined by paul ferris and a woman accused of killing her son by making him the 22 tablespoons of salt. that is today at 4:00. >> 6:00 a team so let's check in with jacqui jeras. >> the rain will hold off for the morning commute. we could use a little bit of rain. 66 degrees right now and a warm start to the dead. rain is coming in from the south-southwest. temperatures across the region look like this. 62 in hagerstown and quantico at 68 degrees. the clouds are here and that is why we are warm and the rain as well off to our west. there is a thin line here associated with the cold front. the area of low pressure is across the great lakes and stretches to the deep south. if you're traveling today anywhere from atlanta to boston you probably want to check in early on your flights. we're expecting the rain by at least 2:00. over night to night, we will see high pressure builds in and it will clear out. the rainfall will not be too bad, somewhere between half an end to 1 inch. cloudy skies and a few thu

vice presidential debate as joe biden and paul ryan trade jab on taxes, foreign policy and the economy in an often testy encounter. >> now you're jack kennedy. >> i think the vice president very well knows that sometimes the words don't come out of your mouth the right way. [ laughter ] >> containing the outbreak. health officials try to locate patients exposed to a deadly form of meningitis. and the firm that supplied the contaminated shots linked to the infection may have been operating illegally. >>> mayor misconduct. an elderly mayor admits to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her city but she's not going jail. this is the "cbs morning news" for friday, october 12, 2012. good morning. good to be with you. i'm terrell brown. compared to last week's presidential debate last night's faceoff between vice president joe biden and congressman paul ryan was like a shoot out at the ok corral. from the get go it was a pull no punches performance by both candidates. they squared off on everything from the economy to foreign affairs. randall good morning. >> reporter: good morning. both candidates came here on a mission. congressman ry

paul ryan was giving him example. first one was jack kennedy. and he said now you are jack kennedy. en to what he was saying >> chris: we knew because paul ryan said. i expect joe biden to come at me like a cannon ball. he seemed like he was amped up on 5 hour energy . the very first topic libya and it was tough on the administration. but there was something that the administration had in its pocket and that is mr. joe biden. made stuff up and forget about the house testimony we heard and experts and people on the ground said we asked for more help and mr. security. joe biden said that never happened. watch. >> there were no protest why did that go on. >> it is what we were told by the intelligence community. and they told us that and they learned more facts, they chaced their assessment. >> they wanted more security there. >> we were not told that. and we did not know they wanted more security. at the time we said exactly what the intelligence community told us they knew, that was the assessment. as they changed their view we made it clear. >> brian: real quick. secrets because he s

. >> if jack kennedy only knew how much he would come up in vice presidential debates i think paul ryanwhere that was going. i'm joined by erol lewis and thomas frank, thank you for sticking around and talking to us. you know, in looking back at this it really taxes the way that they come up in these debates. the thing they're not talking about are mitt romney's taxes. the idea that they can look back and talk about taxes and ryan still getting caught with these lies and then the next day saying that's exactly what we meant to say. how does this work, errol. >> a promise has been made. a big broad promise has been made to splash taxes. it's estimated by a reasonable objective source that this could cost treasury 5 trillion-dollar over ten years. a lot of people are naturally curious. where are you going to get that 5 trillion-dollar, and it's not in this ticket's political best interest to answer this question. let's say they can do this. the mortgage deduction is going to have to go. there are a number of important tax loopholes, if you want to call them that, or tax incentives that wi

paul ryan was 17 years old. in 1988, the generation gap in a vice presidential debate led to this famous moment. >> senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> reporter: tonight, in a heated exchange about taxes, an echo of that moment. >> the only way you can find $5 trillion in loopholes, is cut the morning deduction for middle class people. cut the health care deduction for middle class people. take away their ability to get a tax break to send their kids to college. that's why they are -- >> is he wrong about that? >> he is wrong about that. it's been done before. >> it has never been done before. >> a couple of times. >> jack kennedy -- >> oh, now you're jack kennedy. >> ronald reagan -- >> reporter: at the end, each man summed up and both chose to attack. >> my friend says that 30% of the american people are takers. romney points out 47% of the people won't take responsibility. he's talking about my mother and father. talking about the places i grew up, my neighbors. he's talking about, he's talking about the people that built this country. all they're looking for is an even shot. >> president obama, he had his chance. he made his

show down between vice president joe biden and congressman paul ryan lead to such memorable lines, like this: >> senator, i served with jack kennedyd i knew jack kennedy, jack kennedy was a friend of mine, and senator, you are no jack kennedy. [cheers and applause] [ male announcer ] how do you measure happiness? by the armful? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. i have a cold... i took dayquil, but i still have a runny nose. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't work on runny noses. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have an antihistamine. really? [ male announcer ] really. alka-seltzer plus ld and c fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a fast acting antihistamine to relieve your runny nose. [ sighs ] thank you! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ [ male announcer ] try new alka-seltzer plus severe allergy to treat allergy symptoms, plus sinus congestion, and pain. >> arthel: welcome

we can't tell you how it's revenue neutral, because as paul ryan said, it will take too long. >> will obama go after him, like kennedyid in '94? he'll say, mr. governor, that's what people want. >> we can't talk about the president's strategy. he has to stay cool. if jim lehrer doesn't do it, if the moderator doesn't do, it then the president may have to step in, depending on how romney performs. but if romney doesn't really make the case strongly, the president doesn't necessarily have to jump on him. >> he can say at the end he didn't answer. >> he can say at the end he didn't answer the question. >> let lehrer try it. >> but i think the obama campaign is leery of being -- they need to be a little aggressive. they need to take -- >> what's the best defense? >> good offense. >> i would recommend the president. why did the cavalry leave the fort to fight the indians? do you know why? >> why. >> they're cavalry. thank you. >>> coming up, we have a new scoreboard. not like in the old days but spinners will be there. let's watch the power of the tweeter, the twitter, what's going to happen? we'll have people talking abo

kennedy. >> reporter: memorable moments but hardly game-changers. vice-presidential debates like this week's upcoming matchup between vice president biden and his gop challenger paul ryan are a different animal. >> you need to be able to see that each vice-presidential candidate has hit the standard of readiness, that they'll be ready in the event of a national crisis to step into the oval office and take the reins of presidency. beyond that, unless there's a star-killing or star-catching moment, it rarely changes the course of the debate. >> reporter: democratic strategist donna hill says the first step here is to do no harm. >> try not to break any ground. this is not an audition for 2016. >> i don't like a damn thing about it. >> reporter: biden who only participated in a few de-bates says the contests are never easy. >> what i've been doing mostly is, quite frankly, studying up on congress ryan's positions on the issues, and governor romney has embraced everything i can see. i don't want to say anything in the debate that's not completely analyst. >> reporter: so what are the biggest strengths? experts say for ryan it's his ability to talk in detail. and for b