Did Joe Biden Just Pull An Al Gore?

Yep. And as in 2000 with Al Gore's sighs, liberals thought it was great.

It was the laugh heard around the debate world.

Joe Biden’s hearty chortles and facial expressions quickly dominated the conversation on Twitter and the cable networks in the wake of his first and only vice presidential debate against Paul Ryan.

And the early verdict, at least among some pundits and Republican strategists: it reminded them of Al Gore’s infamous sighs in the 2000 presidential debates against George W. Bush, which were enough to seriously hurt Gore’s candidacy. Biden’s smirking and laughing, while perhaps off-putting to some viewers, is unlikely to shift the race in such a dramatic fashion, especially when the vice president delivered on substance.

“That condescending, smirking, laughing — it was akin to Gore’s sigh,” GOP strategist Mary Matalin said of Biden on CNN Thursday night after the 90-minute debate was over, repeating what many journalists and Mitt Romney supporters were already saying on Twitter.

And it wasn't just conservatives who thought Biden sucked.