Joe Biden Laughing PHOTOS: The Best Of The Vice President's Faces, Reactions In VP Debate

Vice President Joe Biden and Mitt Romney running mate Paul Ryan faced off Thursday in their first and only debate from Centre College Danville, Ky., a showing frequently brightened, quite literally, by Biden's smile.

And it wasn't just grinning. Biden repeatedly got animated, throwing up his arms in exasperation and showing off a number of other mannerisms.

Politico reports that Biden's actions quickly spawned a number of parody Twitter accounts and varying reactions from pundits.

What do you think? Did Biden come off as endearing or annoying? Check out his best faces below and vote in our poll. See more debate coverage over on the live blog.

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Comments

[LivnTucsonLife]

12:28 PM on 10/14/2012

What a clown old man Biden is. Embarrassing is an understatement!

[hvisualc]

11:29 PM on 10/13/2012

Perfect responses to debating a compulsive liar.

[rockymtn1500]

08:56 PM on 10/13/2012

Uncle Fester being his usual stupid self !

[orion54]

06:06 PM on 10/13/2012

Kinda like a baboon when they get excited.

[hornedcog]

12:45 PM on 10/13/2012

How about a series of questions requiring timed written responses? This could be followed by timed written rebuttals of their opponents views and a closing statement all posted commercial free on the internet. I would insist that all recognized parties be included.

[GDWhiteman]

12:10 PM on 10/13/2012

I keep hearing all this "Biden's smirk" stuff. What smirk?
Smirk:: "To smile in an affected, often offensively self-satisfied manner."
Joe wasn't "self-satisfied", he was mocking and laughing at Romney and that guy with all the gravitas of a college junior, Ryan. Nothing defeats lies better than calling them into the light and then laughing at them. Well done, Joe.

[LivnTucsonLife]

12:32 PM on 10/14/2012

Well done if your profession is being a clown at a 2 year olds birthday party.

[GDWhiteman]

01:38 PM on 10/14/2012

He was dealing with a guy that thinks like a 2-year-old - makes a certain sense.

[DemiCrat]

04:00 AM on 10/13/2012

I'd be animated too if instead of talking about what the Obama administration would do in the next four years I had to rebut all of the lies and misinformation Ryan was spouting for an hour and a half.

[rubberneck]

11:29 PM on 10/12/2012

I think age is catching up with biden. He'll be ready for the nursing home in a few years.

[GDWhiteman]

12:11 PM on 10/13/2012

And Ryan will be ready for prime time in a few years. In the meanwhile, Joe will do nicely for the next 4

[maria52]

12:20 PM on 10/13/2012

Yeah, baby :)

[firedup49]

10:53 PM on 10/12/2012

I was disgusted by Biden, he even laughed when Ryan was talking about our 4 dead Americans and Ambassador who was tortured . I do not find that funny

This Democrat is voting for Romney./Ryan

[DemiCrat]

04:04 AM on 10/13/2012

If you are voting for Romney, you are not, nor ever were, a member of the Democratic party. He is the most extreme right wing nominee this country has ever had. Biden wasn't laughing about the American casualties, he was laughing about the sheer hypocrisy of Ryan laying the blame on Obama while simultaneously voting to cut over 300 million dollars from our foreign embassies. Also, the Ambassador was never tortured.

[GDWhiteman]

12:14 PM on 10/13/2012

You're no more a Democrat than I'm a conservative Republican. You're so caught up in Fox talking points that you can't even see the irony of criticizing the administration for not having enough security there after cutting 500 million from embassy security funding in the last 2 years - year, the GOP did that. No, the ambassador was NOT tortured. Usually I ask people like you, "dupe or liar". Since you led with a lie about yourself, I don't need to ask.

[Alexander Henry]

08:34 PM on 10/12/2012

My take on Biden’s laughter was that he set the bar too low early on, and then felt compelled to laugh at anything exceeding it for the rest of the night. Ryan’s constant smirking probably didn’t help much either.

Though outright laughter in a national debate may be unusual, the Romney/Ryan campaign is equally unusual in its own way. Never before has there been a campaign as willing to say anything to anyone if it helps them get elected, without regard for consistency or accuracy. Anytime you criticize a position they’ve endorsed, they say they’ve actually shared your position all along (a position you obviously can’t criticize), and that they represent it better than you do. This is Romney’s signature tactic, and Ryan seems to have adopted it now as well.

The only viable response to this tactic is to satirize it. I think Ted Kennedy did a better job than Biden back in 1994 (“I’m pro-choice; my opponent’s multiple-choice,” “If we give him two more weeks he may even vote for me,” etc.) but I’ll take Biden’s laughter over Obama’s stifled indignation any day.

[IDIOTA]

06:57 PM on 10/12/2012

Thank you, Joe Biden. No matter what happens, you did great.

[emphatico]

11:59 AM on 10/13/2012

He did very well. If only the president had done the same thing -- show up at the debate well prepared -- this presidential race would have been essentially over by now.

[IDIOTA]

05:20 PM on 10/13/2012

I think that the President was not prepared to deal with yet another version of Mitt.  Obama cannot attack Mitt at  the next debate, which Democrats want, because the Town Hall format is not the proper venue for attacking, but at the third debate, the President cannot let Mitt throw a bunch of stuff without taking him to task.

[juzcuz]

06:16 PM on 10/12/2012

Fabulous debate there Mr. Vice President.. love your enthusiasm, charm, sense of humor, wisdom, and especially your genuine & beautiful smile! I'm glad you didn't call Lying Ryan what he insisted on, Mr. Ryan. His name is Congressman.. you know part of the Obstructionist group that has a 7% approval rating. He didn't want to be associated as a congressman, but you used that every chance you got Joe, thank you. 

Hope folks in Colorado know that Lying Ryan told 24 myths in 40 minutes last night.. here's the link if you don't believe me. Hope Colorado will do me proud and vote Obama/Biden and all Dems on the ticket... lived there for 32 years and me & the rest of the country are counting on your vote for forward!!

[juzcuz]

06:21 PM on 10/12/2012

Whoops, sorry, I forgot to give the link to above Ryan's 24 myths in 40 minutes:
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/10/12/1002021/at-the-vice-presidential-debate-ryan-told-24-myths-in-40-minutes/

[RockyMissouri]

11:58 AM on 10/13/2012

Thank you!

[James Rs]

01:01 AM on 10/14/2012

This Colorado resident isn't buying Biden's condescending personality and failure to explain his and his boss' failures. 8 votes in my household go to R/R.

[jerachiron]

02:16 PM on 10/12/2012

Biden was being Biden and Ryan was being Ryan. Biden had to rebut the lies and distortions of the truth. Would you rather him take on the task with angry scowl or would you have him take it on in a lighter vain? I prefer the later. Either way Biden accomplished the task. Romney/Ryan are smoke and mirrors. Republicans have totally set up Obama to fail since he took office. Too bad most Americans have not paid attention and have bought into the lies and manipulation. Either way the lie issue needed to be addressed.

[Susan Thibault]

01:50 PM on 10/12/2012

Biden was an embarrassment to the united states. This was the forum to be professional and have a knowledgeable exchanging of different ideas and approaches to the country's serious problems and all he did was laugh, make childish faces and interruprt the other person. Young voters that are going to vote and watched a debate for the first time got a look at a clown act. It was shameful. Anyone who saw that and thought that was something good for America is just pathetic.

[IDIOTA]

06:54 PM on 10/12/2012

Who embarrassed the Confederacy?

[YOJII]

12:07 PM on 10/13/2012

"a knowledgeable exchanging of different ideas"
It was. Biden shared ideas based on truth, Ryan made you proud by telling lies he couldn't support(lack of knowledge).
Sorry you brought a "Ryan" to a "Biden" fight.

[RockyMissouri]

12:45 PM on 10/13/2012

Hehe...!

[Icehawk18]

01:50 PM on 10/12/2012

I am a Democrat and the father of 5 beautiful children. I live right here in Michigan and I do NOT find anything funny about our declining economy, less money in my paycheck, and losing our
good men and women in the Wars overseas! I am voting ROMNEY/RYAN in this years election because I love this great company and I am tired of all the Talk and Laughter from my fellow democrats. We need to get to work NOW... our Government is drowning in Debt! You need job creation and breaks for small business to right the ship. Obama needs tax payers... but you won't get them in a Welfare line! Good hard work will get our country back! Laughing and smerking like the 16 year old trying to keep his 1.78 GPA from falling lower will Not get it done. We need the intelligence of Mit Romney and the smarts of Paul Ryan to pull us out of this HUGE MESS.

[Susan Thibault]

01:52 PM on 10/12/2012

You are a very smart man.

[Icehawk18]

02:17 PM on 10/12/2012

Thanks! I just can't take 4 more years of talk and no action. I look at my 4 daughters and 1 son and I wonder how they will be able find work in our future society! Biden was laughing because he knew his report card made it home! He even fails at cover-ups!!!

[IDIOTA]

06:56 PM on 10/12/2012

Yeah, right.