Biden: LGBT Discrimination the 'Civil Rights Issue of Our Time'

Vice President Joe Biden spoke to the mother of a transgender woman shortly after leaving a campaign office in Sarasota Florida, according to a VP press pool report obtained by Towleroad:

He singled one woman out who he thought had beautiful eyes. She said something to her at first inaudible to pool, to which VP responded was the "civil rights issue of our time"

Pool later asked the woman, Linda Carragher Bourne of Sarasota about the exchange. She said her daughter was Miss Trans New England and asked if he would help them.

"A lot of my friends are being killed, and they don't have the civil rights yet. These guys are gonna make it happen," she told the pool.

Chris Johnson at the Blade adds:

According to LinkedIn, a Linda Carragher Bourne works as a freelancer writer in Sarasota and is an editor a Self Magazine, an magazine for women’s health and fitness. The most recent winner of Miss Trans New England, according to the pageant’s website, is Nicole Hamidi.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Biden’s reference to the “civil rights issue of our time” was meant to indicate LGBT discrimination in general or, more specifically, transgender discrimination.

Joe Biden and Paul Ryan React to Last Night's Debate: VIDEO

Matt Lauer spoke with Vice President Joe Biden this morning about last night's debate:

Said Biden of Romney: He's a good man, he's a decent man. But he demonstrated an overwhelming lack of understanding in international community. He demonstrated a lack of understanding in the military. I felt a little badly because it's clear he is not ready to be the commander in chief of the United States military."

Ryan got testy and defensive with Savannah Guthrie in a separate interview:

“We have a trillion dollars in defense cuts coming down the pipe that will hollow out our military and we don’t agree with that,” Ryan said.

“Sir, you voted for those cuts,” host Savannah Guthrie interjected.

“No, I did not,” Ryan said. “No, no, I did not support — you have to understand we have a third round of defense cuts coming. We obviously didn’t support the president’s budget. Let’s never forget it was the president who insisted that these defense cuts be part of the sequester bill. I wrote the legislation preventing them from happening.”

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Jon Stewart Mocks FOX News Attempts to Delegitimize Biden at Last Week's VP Debate: VIDEO

Jon Stewart might be the last one to weigh in on last week's Vice Presidential debate, but thankfully for us that has given him time to round up all of FOX News' lame-ass attempts to spin it in Ryan's favor over the past week, including accusations that Biden's giggles and smirks were spawned by Bourbon and dementia.

"That rare form of dementia where you remember too much."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

The Obama Campaign Calls Out Ryan's 'Troubling Pause' on Abortion; The RNC Mocks Biden's Laugh: VIDEOS

Two new videos are out in response to last night's Vice Presidential debate, one from the Obama campaign and another from the RNC. The Obama video calls out the Romney-Ryan strategy of doubling down on repeatedly debunked attacks, making its centerpiece the "troubling pause" when Ryan was asked by Martha Raddatz if those who believe abortion should remain legal should be worried.

The RNC video focuses on Biden's constant laughter.

Which is more effective? Watch them both, AFTER THE JUMP...

Obama Watched VP Debate from Air Force One, 'Could Not Be Prouder' of Biden

President Obama approves of Joe Biden's performance in the debate last night:

“I'm going to make a special point of saying that I thought Joe Biden was terrific tonight,” Obama said as he descended Air Force One, according to a media pool report. “I could not be prouder of him. I thought he made a very strong case. I really think that his passion for making sure that the economy grows for the middle class came through. So I'm very proud of him.”

Joe Biden Reminded Sarah Palin of 'Watching a Musk Ox Run Across the Tundra with Somebody Underfoot': VIDEO

The nominee under consideration in 2008 weighs in on last night's debate to Sean Hannity:

"It reminded me of watching a musk ox run across the tundra with somebody underfoot and in this case when it came to style it was Paul Ryan underfoot of the moderating allowing Biden to do the interrupting, to kind of take control of the conversation."

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...