Vice-Presidential candidates Paul Ryan and Joe Biden clashed over foreign policy in a lively debate in Danville, Kentucky.

After Obama's defeat in the first presidential debate, his running mate Joe Biden went on the attack as he sought to regain momentum for the Democrats before the elections.

"We should always stand up for peace, for democracy, for individual rights. And we should not be imposing these devastating defence cuts, because what that does when we equivocate on our values, when we show that we're cutting down on defence, it makes us more weak. It projects weakness. And when we look weak, our adversaries are much more willing to test us. They're more brazen in their attacks, and are allies are less willing to...

"With all due respect, that's a bunch of malarkey."

"And why is that so?"

"Because not a single thing he said is accurate. I will be very specific. Number one, the -- this lecture on embassy security -- the congressman here cut embassy security in his budget by $300 million below what we asked for, number one. So much for the embassy security piece. Number two, Governor Romney, before he knew the facts, before he even knew that our ambassador was killed, he was out making a political statement which was panned by the media around the world."

Compared to the mostly measured Presidential debate, Biden and Ryan here traded numerous blows when it came to improving America's struggling economy.

"Let's look at where we were when we came to office. The economy was in free fall. We had -- the great recession hit; 9 million people lost their job; $1.7 -- $1.6 trillion in wealth lost in equity in your homes, in retirement accounts for the middle class. We knew we had to act for the middle class. We immediately went out and rescued General Motors. We went ahead and made sure that we cut taxes for the middle class. And in addition to that, when that -- when that occurred, what did Romney do? Romney said, "No, let Detroit go bankrupt." We moved in and helped people refinance their homes. Governor Romney said, "No, let foreclosures hit the bottom."

"Did they come in and inherit a tough situation? Absolutely. But we're going in the wrong direction. Look at where we are. The economy is barely limping along. It's growing a 1.3 per cent. That's slower than it grew last year and last year was slower than the year before. Job growth in September was slower than it was in August, and August was slower than it was in July. We're heading in the wrong direction; 23 million Americans are struggling for work today; 15 per cent of Americans are living in poverty today. This is not what a real recovery looks like."

Mitt Romney gained in the polls after an impressive performance in the first debate against Barack Obama. Democrats will hope Biden's aggressive stance will reignite their campaign, and all eyes now turn towards the second Presidential debate in Hempstead, New York next week.

Written and presented by Alfred Joyner