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Before the first presidential debate last week, President Barack Obama appeared to be cruising toward re-election and possibly a thumping victory. After the first presidential debate, that changed dramatically: Suddenly, we had a horse race. Now after the vice presidential debate Thursday night, we not only have a horse race, but partisans fired up on both sides. Joe Biden relit the fire under Democrats in a passionate, often dominant tangle with Paul Ryan. Going into that encounter, Democratic spirits were not only drooping but some were beginning to panic that they were throwing away the election. Biden put a forceful stop to the caterwauling -- or, as Gloria Borger put it, righted the ship. He was especially effective in countering Ryan on Medicare and (as Van Jones argued after the debate) in making a case that a Romney administration could mean the end of Roe v. Wade. An old pro, Biden knows how to play to seniors, women and the middle class.