Photos: Biden Urges Obama To Challenge Romney To Basketball Game

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Sept. 30, 2012 - The first Presidential Debate is scheduled for Wednesday, October 3. Get the popcorn ready, kids. This oughta be fun.

The debate will air 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time and will be broadcast live on C-SPAN, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC (more schedule info at 2012 Presidential Election News.)

Nobody knows who will "win," of course. Republican nominee Romney? Democrat-Socialist nominee Obama? The pundits will have their say, as will the viewing public, and there will be disagreement.

One thing does seem certain, however: The Obama campaign has got to be at least a little worried about how their man will perform. After all, Romney is going to want to discuss issues such as unemployment, the monstrous federal deficit, billions of wasted taxpayer dollars (think Solyndra), the trade deficit and China, national security, the failed "Arab Spring," and more.

Obama has spent the greater part of his time in the Oval Office trying to divert attention from his failures. Andy Sullivan of Reuters wrote today that "Romney is under pressure to deliver a performance that shifts the momentum in his direction." Sullivan also wrote that "Obama, on the other hand, merely needs to avoid a catastrophic performance that could cause independent voters to reassess their support."

"Merely?" Even if Obama deftly delivers his smooth answers, it will be a challenge for him to defend his lousy performance in office.

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With that in mind, Vice President Joe Biden yesterday urged Obama to challenge Romney to a one-on-one game of "HORSE," a type of basketball game played by two people.

Biden fears that Romney might actually call Obama out for his pitiful presidential career.

Biden said that a victory over Romney in a basketball game would "show the nation who the real man in this race really is."

"Look," said Biden, "I love sports, and there's a lot of similarity to politics." He said that in the game of HORSE, "the players make trick shots and they make lucky shots that are intended to make the other guy miss. You know, trip up your opponent." Biden expressed concern that questions to Obama about his presidential job performance "could be like those trick shots," and that Romney's expected use of hard facts about Obama's failures "would be like those lucky shots to screw up the other guy, the other guy in this case being President Obama." 

Little is known about Romney's own skills at basketball, but Obama is well known as a competent player. "Nobody dribbles like Barack," said Biden, "and nobody is better on a layup shot."

Controversial and outspoken New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, predicts a win for Romney in the Wednesday debate. "I have absolute confidence that when we get to Thursday morning George, all of you are going to be shaking your heads saying it’s a brand new race," Christie told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s "This Week" today. "All he’s got to do is go out there and tell the truth."

Christie, who is thought by many to be better at basketball than Obama, said he hopes Romney "does not dignify an Obama basketball challenge by accepting it. Are they serious?"

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