V-P debate: Biden comes out swinging, clashes with Ryan

US Vice President Joe Biden and rival Republican Paul Ryan battled fiercely over foreign policy and the economy in a lively debate on Thursday, with Biden aggressively defending the administration's policies and dismissing Ryan's criticism.

Seeking to win back the momentum for the Democrats' campaign after a poor debate performance by President Barack Obama last week, Biden frequently went on the attack.

With all due respect, that is a bunch of malarkey, Biden said when Ryan accused the White House of projecting an image of American weakness to the world.

But Wisconsin congressman Ryan, almost 30 years younger than his vastly experienced opponent, held his own in a series of testy exchanges.

The Republican joked that the gaffe-prone Biden should understand that sometimes the words don't always come out the right way.

Biden took the offensive early, providing the emotion and passion that Obama was criticized for lacking in last week's debate with Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Ryan stood his ground, and the vice presidential candidates for the Nov. 6 election frequently interrupted each other and talked at the same time.

In body language that might not go down well with undecided voters, Biden smiled and laughed sarcastically at points during the 90-minute debate in an apparent effort to dismiss Ryan comments.

Ryan said Americans were seeing the unraveling of Obama's foreign policy, and Biden attacked Romney as not presidential for holding a news conference on Libya just after a U.S. diplomatic compound was attacked and the ambassador killed.

Democrats were counting on a forceful performance from Biden to reclaim the momentum in the race for the White House after Obama's poor showing led to Romney taking the lead in polls with less than four weeks before the Nov. 6 election.

Mr. Vice President, I know you're under a lot of duress to make up for lost ground, but I think people would be better served if we don't keep interrupting each other, Ryan said at one point.

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