Biden and Ryan tangle in free-wheeling debate The vice presidential candidates get heated talking about overhaul proposals of the nation's Medicare system. Vice President Joe Biden came out swinging against Republican opponent Paul Ryan in Thursday's lone vice presidential debate, seemingly determined to avoid repeating President Barack Obama's laconic performance in last week's presidential debate. Biden went at Ryan, a congressman from Wisconsin who agreed to serve as GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's running mate two years ago, from the very outset of tonight's debate in Danville, Ky. The vice president threw up his arms, laughed, scoffed and rolled his eyes in reaction to Ryan's attacks - a seemingly visceral reaction to what Biden frequently called "malarkey" offered up by the House Budget Committee chairman. Biden's response to Ryan's proposals to reform Medicare into a "premium support" or voucher system was a typical refrain for the vice president: "Folks, use your common sense: who do you trust on this?" During Thursday's debate, Vice President Joe Biden and GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan spar over the Obama administration's foreign policy. Ryan stuck largely to well-worn talking points used often by Romney and the GOP ticket on the campaign trail. The congressman stuck to his expertise as a budget wunderkind to explain reforms to entitlements and taxes and balancing the budget. But the debate had many of the fireworks that last Thursday's initial debate between Obama and Romney had lacked. As Biden and Ryan talked back each other on Medicare, Ryan quipped: "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." Vice President Joe Biden plays off of Lloyd Bentsen's 1988 jab at Dan Quayle while debating GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan on Thursday. The higher energy level was undoubtedly a byproduct of the first Obama-Romney showdown, in which Romney was acclaimed as the victor for delivering crisp attacks on the president largely without a response. The former Massachusetts governor has made inroads in national and battleground state polling, a sign of momentum that Ryan had sought to accelerate in tonight's debate at Centre College. The debate focused more heavily on foreign policy and national security, too, in comparison to the first debate between Obama and Romney - seemingly a mismatch, given Biden's history as former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Ryan's relative scant experience on international issues. Ryan seized, though, upon the terrorist attack last month on a diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya - which left four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, dead - to cast the Obama administration as essentially feckless on the global stage. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with Republican vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan during the vice presidential debate on Oct. 11, 2012 in Danville, Ky. "This Benghazi issue would be a tragedy in and of itself, but unfortunately it's indicative of a broader problem," Ryan said. And that is what we are watching on our TV screens is the unraveling of the Obama foreign policy. The administration has been the subject of scrutiny for its shifting explanation of the incident, which it first publicly attributed to a spontaneous outgrowth of protests related to a YouTube video offending Islam. "With all due respect, that's a bunch of malarkey," Biden said of Ryan's charge, complaining that Romney was out "making a political statement" about the attack before the facts on the ground were known.