US election 2012: Joe Biden revives Democrat spirits But as always with Joe Biden, the "passion" came with a cost; very possibly there was collateral damage with independent and women voters as he continuously interrupted Mr Ryan and the moderator (82 times by official count). At times, Mr Biden appeared to overstep the mark, shaking his head, tutting and smiling in pantomime disbelief as Mr Ryan tried to make his points using the kind of reasoned - and at times over-intricate - argument that has earned him the reputation of a policy wonk. Mr Biden, however, was in the mood for a brawl, preferring instead to appeal to the kind of blue collar voters who might consider Mr Ryan too clever for his own good. When the congressman accused Mr Obama of wanted to cut defence budgets, Mr Biden didn't resort to statistics to make his point: "With all due respect, that's a bunch of malarkey," he said, playing to his straight-talking Irish roots. Mr Ryan, who at times looked slightly overawed by the vice-president's grandstanding, must take credit for not overreacting to the older man's infuriating excesses - only once asking Mr Biden to stop interrupting and allow him to finish a point. In truth, the winner of this scrappy contest was probably in the eye of the beholder: the polls and the pundits were divided over the outcome because both men appealed principally to their respective core supporters, not over their heads. Independents will probably have watched the snarling and the sniping and thought - with the greatest respect to the two vice presidential candidates - that it was all a "bunch of malarkey" and not much more than that.