United States: Immigration Absent in Vice-Presidential Debate  · Global Voices
Robert Valencia

The debate between the vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan took place last night in Danville, Kentucky where as was to be expected, their differences on issues such as the economy, foreign policy, health care and abortion were clearly demarcated.
The debate began with an energetic Biden and a Ryan questioning the Obama administration's role in recent clashes in Egypt and Benghazi, Libya, where the United States ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed. At the end of the debate, some experts stated that Biden's steely posture could boost the Democrats’ campaign which was seriously affected by President Barack Obama's poor performance in the debate on October 4th.
The social networks recorded the smallest details of the debate. Vice-president Biden uttered colloquial phrases such as “Malarkey” which means “nonsense,” in answer to the criticisms that Ryan made of the Obama administration's response to the attacks on the American diplomatic body in Libya.
Joe Biden and Paul Ryan. Photo taken from the video of the debate on YouTube.
In the same way, the constant laughs and gestures made by the vice-president throughout the transmission gathered him around 500,000 mentions on Twitter. Users highlighted the work of the ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz as moderator of the debate, making her name a trending topic. However, the volume of mentions on the social networks only reached half the number of those made a week ago during the Obama-Romney head-to-head, according to the company Bluefin: Last night's debate got 3.7 million mentions, compared to 11.2 million during the first presidential debate.
In spite of being considered an electrifying and historical debate because this was the first time that two Catholic candidates were to come face to face, some Hispanic users resented the fact that issues such as immigration failed to get a mention. Indeed, it was expected that the two candidates would touch upon this issue, as Aissa García G (@AissateleSUR) reveals:
@AissateleSUR: La curiosidad me atrapa. Debatiran Biden Y Ryan sobre tema migración? Sabemos que tienen posturas encontradas #debate #videpresidencia #EU
@AissateleSUR: I'm curious. Will Biden and Ryan debate the issue of migration? We know they have opposing views #debate #videpresidencia #EU
But, after the debate, users such as Fabian Núñez (@FbianNunez) expressed their objections that the issue of immigration, amongst others, had not been mentioned.
@FbianNunez: Es triste que no se hablara de Latinoamérica ni se tocara el tema de inmigración en el debate de esta noche. #destino2012 #debate2012
@FbianNunez: It's sad that they didn't talk about Latin America or the issue of immigration in the debate tonight. #destino2012 #debate2012
Roberto de Vries (@doctordevries) questions the work of Raddatz in this respect:
@doctordevries: #psicopolítica La moderadora no preguntó nada sobre los latinos ni los problemas de inmigración en el debate Biden/Ryan
@doctordevries: #psicopolítica The moderator didn't ask any questions about the latinos or about the problems of immigration in the Biden/Ryan debate
Lat-Am-Hoy (@LatAmhoy) makes the following statement:
@LatAmhoy: inmigración sigue ausente del debate presidencial en EE.UU
@LatAmhoy: immigration remains absent from the US presidential debate
Armando Avellaneda (@Arravellaneda) states:
@Arravellaneda: Migración y América Latina, grandes ausentes en debate de candidatos a vicepresidentes de Estados Unidos
@Arravellaneda: Migration and Latin America, significant absences in the debate between vice-presidential candidates in the United States
Rebe (@rbk_oceguera) wrote the following:
@rbk_oceguera: El debate fue interesante y muy dinámico. Faltó la referencia obligada para el voto latino a cuestiones de migración.
@rbk_oceguera: The debate was interesting and very dynamic. The reference to questions of migration which is essential for the latino vote was missing.
Aina Ruiz de Azúa (@ainagonzalez) showed her discontent with the debate:
@ainagonzalez: Vaya debate vicepresidencial :( what a vice presidential debate :( dont like it at all !
Others such as Jónatan Sark (@JonatanSark) took the debate with humour:
@JonatanSark: Por cierto, ABC, CBS, NBC y FOX emiten el Debate Vicepresidencial. La CW emite el piloto de “The Beauty and The Beast”, puro oportunismo.
@JonatanSark: By the way, ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX are broadcasting the Vice-presidential Debate. CW is showing the pilot of “The Beauty and The Beast,” pure opportunism.
Jordi Perez Colome (@jordipc) alleges that, if it wasn't for Obama's weak performance in the previous debate, this debate would not be considered important:
@jordipc: Hoy es el debate vicepresidencial: Biden-Ryan. Si Obama no lo hubiera hecho tan mal, tendría menos peso. A las 3am aquí http://www.c-span.org/Debates/Events/VP-Biden–Rep-Ryan-Debate-in-Kentucky/10737434293/ …
@jordipc: Today is the vice-presidential debate: Biden-Ryan. If Obama hadn't done so badly, it wouldn't matter as much. At 3am here http://www.c-span.org/Debates/Events/VP-Biden–Rep-Ryan-Debate-in-Kentucky/10737434293/ …
The second presidential debate will be held next Tuesday 16th October, in which it is hoped that President Obama will come back with greater force, as a result of Governor Mitt Romney's recovery in the last few days.
*Photo taken from a video of the debate, which can be viewed in full here.