In years past, Vice Presidential debates are more of a sideshow to the real Presidential race, but last night was anything but as Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan sparred openly, and often time aggressively, in one-on-one debate in Danville, Kentucky. Coming off the heels of a perceived Romney victory in last week’s first Presidential debate with Obama, Ryan looked to open up more avenues for his Presidential ticket but Biden continued to fire back at almost any point Ryan made.

The night started off with the two, as usual, shaking hands and sitting down at a round table with the moderator, ABC correspondent Martha Raddatz. From the outset of the debate, Biden was aggressive and dismissive at the same time. At times smiling, rolling eyes, and shrugging at Ryan’s comments, Biden sought to steer the conversation towards pointing out inaccuracies in Ryan’s comments and countering them with statements of his own addressing the topic.

“With all due respect, that’s a bunch of malarkey,” Biden said. “Not a single thing he said is accurate.”

Jabs like this continued throughout the debate from both candidates but it was Biden who appeared to have the upper hand when it came down to calling out the other, often interrupting Ryan and continuing his tirade of smirks, jeers, and counterpunches. When the first issue, the recent attack on a US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was brought up, Ryan highlighted the failure of the Obama Administration to effectively protect the late Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was killed in the attack.

“Shouldn’t we have a marine detachment guarding our ambassador in Benghazi?” Ryan asked. “A place we knew there was an al Qaeda cell with arms?”

But Biden had none of it, noting embassy budget cuts in Ryan’s budget plan and beefing up his own foreign policy credentials compared to Ryan’s. Indeed the debate had kind of a foreign policy twist to it because of Raddatz’s experience as a foreign correspondent at ABC. However, she didn’t shy away from domestic issues like tax policy and Medicare, a key point that caused more head bashing between the candidates.

Ryan, known for his detailed budget plan and command of statistics and numbers on the issues of taxes and Medicare, expectedly threw out jobs statistics, bankruptcy expectations, and other issues. His command of the figures seemed impressive, but Biden took a more simplistic approach and once again countered by mentioning Ryan’s lack of specifics on his tax plan.

“Stop talking about how you care about people. Show me something. Show me a policy,” Biden said.

Ryan later lurched back in support of his budget plan mentioning the supposed bipartisanship of his plan, saying “Republicans and Democrats have worked together on this,” Ryan said. “I understand you guys aren’t used to bipartisan deals.”

As the night moved on, foreign policy was brought back into discussion with long talk over issues like the war in Syria, the Iranian nuclear program, and American forces in Afghanistan. Biden, having very extensive foreign policy credentials, appeared to command the floor a little more than Ryan, who is somewhat new to the realm of foreign affairs but nevertheless still had a firm grip on numbers and details, a trait he showed quite well throughout the debate.

On the issue of Syria, Ryan noted, “Where are we? After international pressure, then President Obama said [Syrian President] Bashar Assad should go. It’s been over a year. He has slaughtered tens of thousands of his own people.”

Biden again was quick to respond, asking Ryan what he would do. Ryan gave a somewhat muddled answer, which showed much of the audience the lack of experience on these issues that Ryan currently has.

Towards the end of the debate, the moderator turned the tides of the dialogue by asking the candidates about abortion and how their religion (both are Roman Catholic) played a role in their lives.

“I don’t see how a person can separate their public life from their private life,” Ryan said. “My faith informs me how to take care of the vulnerable, how to make sure that people have a chance in life.”

Biden, noting a stark contrast with Ryan on this issue and also acknowledging the Catholic church’s stance on abortion, said, “I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews and I just refuse to impose that on others. Unlike my friend here, the Congressman, I do not believe that we have the right to tell other people, women, they can’t control their body.”

In the final statements, Raddatz asked both candidates to respond to an imaginary, disgruntled soldier who was upset with the volatile political atmosphere.

“He shouldn’t be thrown into a category of 47 percent who don’t pay their taxes while he was out there fighting,” Biden said.

The 47 percent remark was in reference to a leaked video of Gov. Mitt Romney, Ryan running mate, at a private fundraiser in Florida where he mentioned how the 47 percent of American who do not pay federal income taxes were freeloaders and could not be convinced to take responsibility for themselves. The video caused a firestorm for Romney and allowed the Obama campaign to reiterate its stance that Romney was out of touch.

Ryan ended his statement by citing failures to keep promises by President Obama.

“This is not what a real recovery looks like,” Ryan said.

Many are split over who won the debate, but there seems to be a consensus among pundits that both did; Biden won it for the Democratic base and Ryan won it for the Republican base. With only four weeks until the elections, only a few percentage points separate the two campaigns as they compete for the Presidency.