Watch Joe Biden and Paul Ryan in the Vice Presidential Debate

Vice President Joe Biden, left, took on Republican hopeful Paul Ryan in a live televised debate last night (Getty Images)

Paul Ryan and Joe Biden clashed fiercely in last night's Vice Presidential debate in a contest described by Obama strategist David Axelrod as like "the college principal debating the class president".

Whether Amtrak Joe's performance will be enough to stop the rot brought on by Obama's poor showing in the first debate in Denver remains to be seen, but so far the reaction has been positive for the Democratic incumbent.

Our US voter panel were impressed on the whole with Joe Biden, and Rupert Cornwell concurs in his extended analysis here.