education of congressman 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 last week, the vice president wasn't putting up with it from a guy who's number two on the republican ticket. >> when we equivocate on our values, when we show that we're cutting our own defense, it makes us more weak. it projects weakness. when we look weak, our adversaries are much more wig to test us, more brazen in their attacks. >> with all due respect, that's a bunch of malarky. >> why is that so? >> not a single thing he said is accurate. >> biden never took his foot off the gas. in one brief sentence, the vice president summed up the empty rhetoric of the romney campaign. >> stop talking about how you care about people. show me something. show me a policy. show me a policy where you take responsibility. >> many obama supporters were disappointed the president didn't hold mitt romney accountable for his 47% comments and his economic policies in general. vice president joe biden made up for it last night. he used 68 seconds to say exactly what needed to be said about the romney/ryan view of the middle class in this country. >> romney said, no, let detroit go bankrupt. we moved in and helped people refinance their homes. governor romney said, no, let foreclosures hit the bottom. but it shouldn't be surprising for a guy who says 47% of the american people are unwilling to take responsibility for their own lives. my friend recently in a speech in washington said 30% of the american people are takers. these people are my mom and dad, the people i grew up with. my neighbors. they pay more effective tax than governor romney pays in his federal income tax. they are elderly people who, in fact, are living off of social security. they are veterans and people fighting in afghanistan right now who are, quote, not paying any taxes. i've had it up to here with this notion that 47% -- it's about time they take some responsibility here. and instead of signing pledges to grover norquist not to ask the wealthiest among us to contribute to bring back the middle class, they should be signing a pledge saying to the middle class, we're going to level the playing field. we're going to give you a fair shot again. we are going to not repeat the mistakes we made in the past by having a different set of rules for wall street and main street. >> that sound bite right there by joe biden made paul ryan look out of his league a number of times in the debate, but especially right there. when paul ryan criticized the stimulus plan, biden's response was devastating. >> i love my friend here. i'm not allowed to show letters, but go on our website. he sent me two letters saying, by the way, can you send me some stimulus money for companies here in the state of wisconsin? we sent millions of dollars. >> you did ask for stimulus money, correct? >> sure he did. >> on two occasions we advocated for constituents applying for grants. that's what we do. we do that for all constituents. >> i love that. i love that. this is such a bad program and he writes the department of energy a letter saying the reason we need this stimulus, it will create growth and jobs. his words. and now he's sitting here looking at me. >> we do that for all constituents? that's what paul ryan said? so in other words if somebody comes into his office and says, hey, i need $20 million for this project, it's just a quick stamp of approval? ryan's part of the problem in washington, and he's trying to blame the democrats for it. at certain points the vice president was openly fact checking paul ryan's comments in realtime. >> this is a plan that's bipartisan. it's a plan i put together with a prominent democrat senator from oregon. >> there's not one democrat who endorses it. not one democrat who signed the plan. >> our partner is a democrat from oregon. >> he says he does no longer support -- >> we put it together with the former clinton budget director. >> who disavows it. >> this idea came from the clinton commission to save medicare chaired by senator john breaux. here's the point, martha. >> which was rejected. >> if we don't -- >> that was a crucial point in the debate right there. here's a guy trying to talk about a plan that has bipartisan support, and joe biden stood up for the american people and the truth and wouldn't let him get away with it. that's what made it a great debate. i don't care how many times someone is interrupted if the interruption is in the service of the truth. democrats and progressives have had enough of the lies that the republicans have been throwing out in this campaign season. when ryan started lying about the romney tax plan, joe biden was right to point out just how the math does not add up. >> you can cut tax rates by 20% and still preserve these important preferences for middle class taxpayers. >> not mathematically possible. >> it is mathematically possible. it's been done before. it's precisely what we're proposing. >> it has never been done before. >> it's been done a couple of time, actually. >> it has never been done before. >> jack kennedy cut taxes and -- >> now you're jack kennedy? >> ronald reagan -- republicans and democrats have worked together on this. i understand you guys aren't used to doing bipartisan deals. >> we told each other what we were going to do. when we did it with reagan we said, here are the things we're going to cut. >> did you hear paul ryan just say, i understand that you guys aren't bipartisan? does he follow the news? does he follow his own party? a record number of filibusters in the senate? paul ryan can't fill in the details on this plan because there aren't any. ryan's fatal flaw is really in his dishonesty. it showed. when ryan told personal stories about programs like medicare and social security. >> my mom and i had my grandmother move in with us who was facing alzheimer's. medicare was there for her just like it's there for my mom right now who's a florida senior. after my dad died my mom and i got social security survivors benefits. it helped her go back to college in her 50s where she started a small business because of the new skills she got. she paid all of her taxes on the promise that these programs would be there for her. we will honor this promise. and the best way to do it is to reform it for my generation. >> that explanation right there is exactly why there's no march in the street. there's no effort in this country to change the very programs that we have for the elderly in this country. they are earned benefits. they are not entitlement programs. of course, if ryan really had these programs that really meant a lot to him, he wouldn't want to privatize everything and get his hands on it like social security and turn medicare into a voucher program. joe biden was much more effective by directly addressing voters who rely on these programs. the seniors. >> it's any senior out there, ask yourself, do you have more benefits today? you do. if you're near the doughnut hole, you have $600 more to help your prescription drug cost. you get wellness visits without co-pays. they wipe all of this out and medicare becomes insolvent in 2016. >> paul ryan has lost touch with the working class roots of his district and the working class that he says he came from. we think it was privilege. biden still holds onto those roots in spades. the ryan team knows the candidate got schooled and they're making excuses. of course they are. they say paul ryan wasn't prepared for the vice president's laughter. romney campaign spokesman michael steele told chris moody of yahoo! news the laughter certainly was not something that we expected. really? the romney supporters on the "wall street journal," the editorial board, what do they do? resorted to calling joe biden a bully? give me a break. so if you tell the american people the facts about what's going on with our government, hey, you're nothing but a bully. the right wingers don't like it when they're not allowed to lie all day long without consequence. now, this is what i really love. rnc chairman priebus being the biggest cry baby of them all. >> quite frankly, i was embarrassed for the vice president. i mean, the laughs. we counted 82 times that joe biden interrupted paul ryan. i don't know -- >> paul ryan was interrupting, too. >> i don't know who his debate partner was, i don't know, maybe it was ed schultz from msnbc. i'm not sure. >> well, i can tell you, mr. chairman, i would be proud to be the vice president's debate partner after a performance like that because he hit it out of the park. so i'll just take credit for it. i know the vice president watches this show. he stood up for the middle class last night. he fought for the truth. he showed a difference between a leader and a liar. and as for the "wall street journal" saying that the debate was a disservice to voters, let me tell you what a disservice is to america. a couple of candidates that go out there with citizens united money and lie to the american people about every policy, about every issue that's out there and shift in the wind whenever they possibly can to confuse a bunch of people. the truth is, lie after lie is not good for democracy, but they don't care. all they care about is political power. and as for being polite, i will take the liberty to speak for the liberal community in this country tonight. we are damn sick and tired of being run over by the top culture in this country. being polite to the righties when they're lying? no. that's out of bounds. one more thing. mr. president, i think joe biden gave you the template for next week. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. who won the debate? text "a" for vice president joe biden. text "b" for congressman paul ryan. to 622639. always go to our blog and leave a comment at ed.msnbc.com. we have the results coming up later on in the program. let's bring in the vice president and executive director of msnbc.com and msnbc political analyst richard wolffe. richard, great to have you with us tonight. >> thanks, ed. >> what does -- what does biden's performance really mean to the entire race, to the base, to the tone, everything? what does it mean? >> i think we saw a level set there last night where the vice president not only did that fact checking, you know, obviously he was combative and he laid out an argument there, but there was something bigger going on. and i know we get into the blow by blow and the punch and the counterpunch, but really the only measure of these vice presidential candidates, no matter what their track record and vice president biden has been very busy inside the white house, but really the only measure for voters is can you imagine them being a heartbeat away from the presidency? and everything i've heard from conservative talk echo chamber today doesn't deal with that. they complain about the rules or about the interruptions or they say he made a good argument. not one of them say, even try to make the case, that paul ryan is ready to be president the day after the election. and that's where vice president really won this thing. and if you look at uncommitted voters, as opposed to republicans, the base who are already locked down, uncommitted voters yesterday looked to those two candidates and said one was a vice president. >> you know, the tone of the campaign, there's been so many lies out there. did joe biden have to do that last night? we showed a couple of exchanges right there where he just jumped in. it was time after time he was correcting ryan. do you think he had to do it? >> well, i think you have to do it because the romney campaign is trying to completely rip up its script and start all over again with no time to actually engage in the argument. and so you have to do it right there in the debate. i don't think people care about the interruptions at this point. they know this is a feisty election. it's hard fought. they're used to watching tv when frankly people don't have queensbury rules. the more important point is if your best moment in a debate was about benghazi and your opponent's best moment in a debate was about the economy, you really have your opponent who got the better of you. >> richard, does this change anything for tuesday night, debate number two with the president and mitt romney? >> i think this is a pause. i think it stops the media narrative which got way out of control. frankly, it was way out of control before the debate, as if the election was over. it was way out of control after that first presidential debate saying it was over in the other direction. here we've got a very close election. it was close before. it will be close right up to election day. the vice president, i think, has leveled the media narrative to a point where we can actually see the two candidates going toe to toe next week. >> all right. richard wolffe, thanks for your time tonight on "the ed show." appreciate it. >> thank you. >> remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter @edshow and on facebook. we want to know what you think. last night paul ryan was confronted on the extreme anti-choice position. the romney ticket presents. terri o'neal on the war on women. next. stay with us. headphones buy now broadway show megapixels place to sleep little roadster war and peace deep sea diving ninja app hipster glasses 5% cash back sign up to get 5% everywhere online through december. only from discover. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. coming up, republicans freak out over vice president joe biden's big win. karen finney joins me on that. paul ryan defends his tax plan but not very convincingly. david cay johnston takes a crack at it. the war on women was alive and well last night with revealing answers to a question about abortion. terri o'neal joins me next. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter. using the #edshow. ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. car insurance companies say they'll save you by switching, you'd have like, a ton of dollars. but how're they saving you those dollars? a lot of companies might answer "um" or "no comment." then there's esurance. born online, raised by technology and majors in efficiency. so whatever they save, you save. hassle, time, paperwork, hair-tearing out, and yes, especially dollars. esurance. now backed by allstate. click or call. welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. mitt romney continues to walk a tightrope over abortion rights. and now his running mate has reignited the war on women. >> 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 decision that people through their elected representatives in reaching a consensus in society through the democratic process should make this determination. >> the translation, yes, you should be worried. ryan wants to legislate roe v. wade on a state level and severely limit access to abortion services. yet, just days ago, mitt romney told "the des moines register" newspaper that he would not push for any anti-choice measures. >> there's no legislation with regards to abortion that i'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda. >> and, of course, the romney campaign quickly walked that back and allowed ryan to articulate its knew investigation for women's rights. >> the policy of a romney administration will be to oppose abortion with the exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother. >> but if creating policy was solely up to paul ryan, there would be no exceptions. the legislation he co-sponsored proves it. vice president biden called him out on it. >> my friend says that he -- well, i guess he accepts governor romney's position now because in the past he has argued that there was rape, enforceable rape. he's argued in the case of rape or incest it would be a crime to engage in having an abortion. i just fundamentally disagree with my friend. >> joe biden is no left wing ideologue when it comes to abortion. biden told the audience last night he believes in the catholic church's teachings that life begins at conception, yet biden stressed he does not believe in imposing his faith on others. his record, well, it proves that. the truth is, mitt romney has embraced an extreme anti-choice agenda. ft. we are to believe all of his stated positions on this issue, what is he going to do? he's going to defund planned parenthood. he'll sign legislation reversing roe v. wade and he'll put extremists on the supreme court who will overturn roe v. wade. now, is that what you want? to that point, vice president biden reminded folks that the next president will likely get the opportunity to potentially turn the tables on women's rights in this country. >> the court, the next president will get one or two supreme court nominees. that's how close roe v. wade is. just ask yourself, with robert bork being the chief adviser on the court for mr. romney, who do you think he's likely to appoint? >> isn't the demeanor of the vice president very interesting when he doesn't have to debunk all the lies and he's got a serious issue like this? joining me now is the president of the national organization for women, terri o'neal. terri, great to have you with us tonight. all i can say is after that exchange is, wow. did paul ryan reignite the war on women? where are we now? >> paul ryan supports personhood amendments. this is -- this is legislation that would decree that life begins at conception, ed. and the truth is that if this goes into effect, that actually would have the effect of criminalizing all abortion. paul ryan has said he thinks there should be exceptions for forcible rape, but not exceptions for women who are impregnated by rape. tens of thousands of women, by the way, are impregnated by rape every year, and paul ryan's real belief is that he doesn't think that they should have access to abortion. and the other thing is, i think we really need to remember, one in three women will have an abortion by the age of 45. it is a common and necessary aspect of women's reproductive health. and what pau