Neither Biden nor Ryan, but probably Mitt Romney. As one physician (and former political candidate himself) noted to our enthusiastic debate crowd, Biden mentioned Obama only in passing, scarcely touching on his achievements, his inspiring leadership, or any grand new plans (what new plans?) for the future. Instead, he emphasized his own dubious role in major events. Ryan, by contrast, repeatedly spoke of Romney, warmly praising his qualifications, his character, his vision and his five-point platform for recovery.

Yes, Biden performed as expected with his kitchen-sink assault on the GOP ticket, but the indispensable heavy-lifting remains for President Obama in the next two debates. In those exchanges, he must somehow make clear his new, uplifting goals for a new term and his fresh ideas for the road ahead, since only a minority of Americans would knowingly choose even an approximate replication of the polarization, poison and paralysis of the last four years.