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Prepping for the V.P. debate: What we’re reading

Chau Tu Oct 11, 2012

We’re getting prepped to live blog the vice presidential debate tonight in Danville, Ky., at 9 p.m. EST. We’ll have a live video stream from PBS NewsHour of the debate. Abortion, foreign policy and all sorts of stuff may be debated — but we’re paying particular attention to the economic issues, and here’s what we’ve been reading to get ready:

– Health care and Ryan’s Medicare plan are widely anticipated to be heated topics on tonight’s debate. Here’s Marketplace’s David Gura on whether the health care system really is a ‘third rail’ of politics in America.

– It’s become well-known that Paul Ryan is all about fitness and the popular P90X regime, but today Time.com did us all the courtesy of putting images to the stories. Check out the congressman demonstrating his workout technique, backwards baseball cap and all.

– Speaking of technique, don’t expect Biden to be resting on the sidelines, waiting for his opponent to punch himself out. When a reporter asked whether the vice president would ‘rope-a-dope,’ using the boxing term that became popularized after Muhammad Ali used the tactic on George Foreman in 1974, Biden countered, “You ever see me rope-a-dope?

– Could tonight’s debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan be an all-out partisan brawl? Slate takes a look at how the candidates will or will not separate themselves from their running mates.

– Ever wonder how the folks who sit in the audiences of those town hall conversations get chosen? Marketplace Morning Report got the insider info from Gallup’s editor-in-chief Frank Newport. He revealed that the polling group works with the Commission on Presidential Debates for these events, working to recruit uncommitted voters they’ve polled through phone calls.

What else have you been reading to get ready? Let us know what business and economic topics will be concerning you during the debate on our live blog and video stream on our Elections page (starting at 9 p.m. EST), and by tweeting us @MarketplaceAPM.

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