Vice Presidential Debate 2012 Live Stream: Online Streaming Options Aplenty For Biden-Ryan Face-off

Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan square off against each other tonight in the only VP debate of the 2012 election season. For those with Internet access but without a television, there are a variety of free live streaming options to watch the debate and pre-debate commentary online.

Free live streams of the debate, which kicks off at 9 p.m. EDT at Centre College in Danville, Ky., are offered on nearly a dozen websites, which you’ll find throughout this article. Go to this U.S. time zone map to determine what time Thursday night's debate starts in your area.

One of the best choices to watch the vice presidential debate via live stream is Politico. You can find the politics news website’s live stream at this link. Politico’s debate coverage begins at 8 p.m. with pre-debate commentary -- a great choice for political junkies who want some analysis heading into the Biden-Ryan face-off.

If you want double the dose of pre-debate coverage, head over to the Washington Post’s live stream here. The newspaper begins its analysis of the highly anticipated vice presidential debate at 7 p.m. EDT. The newspaper's team of reporters will also be doing live fact checking during the debate.

Tumblr’s coverage of the vice presidential debate can be found here. The live stream starts promptly at 9 p.m.

The format for the Biden-Ryan debate differs from the first face-off between President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

The first debate only covered domestic issues, while the Biden-Ryan debate “will cover both foreign and domestic topics,” according to the Commission on Presidential Debates, the non-partisan body that sets the rules for the discussions.

After live streaming its first presidential debate last week, YouTube is back with a live stream for tonight’s vice presidential debate. The website’s Politics Hub, launched in August, is where you can find the live stream. Just go to this link. YouTube’s coverage begins at 9 p.m.

The commission has its own live stream options through AOL and Yahoo. Through the debate commission’s “Voice Of” feature, you can sound off on issues pertaining to the 2012 election and see how your views compare to those of other Americans.

For younger voters eager to watch the debate, Microsoft is providing coverage through its Xbox Live service. Follow this link to learn more about watching the debate via Xbox 360.

Television networks are also providing live streams.

ABC News is live streaming the debate on its YouTube channel, NBC will broadcast the Biden-Ryan matchup on the Internet here and CBS News will live stream the debate here.

Cable networks are also in the mix, with CNN’s coverage here and Fox News’ live stream here.

The Biden-Ryan debate will be moderated by Martha Raddatz, senior foreign affairs correspondent for ABC News.

Who do you think will win the debate between Biden and Ryan? Sound off on your predictions in the comments section below.