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Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Where's the Bunker When You Need It?
Clearly, Cheney lied on many issues but this one is for LOL:
In the debate, Cheney claimed he was meeting Edwards for the first time. I wonder if this was Cheney's double at the event shown in the photo.
Quote of the night:
Boy was I ever wrong. If last Thursday night's debate was an assisted suicide for president Bush, this debate - just concluded - was a car wreck. And Cheney was road-kill. There were times when it was so overwhelming a debate victory for Edwards that I had to look away. -- Andrew Sullivan
Reported on Daily Kos:
CBS News tracked the reactions to tonight's vice-presidential debate of a nationwide panel of 169 uncommitted voters - voters who could change their minds before Election Day. Here are the initial results. This scientific poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 7 percentage points:
By 41% to 29%, uncommitted debate watchers say Edwards won the debate tonight.
Media reviews compiled on the Kerry blog:
Fred Barnes: "Now the second half, on domestic policy, I though Edwards did very well and he probably won that part." [Fox News, 10/5/04, 10: 40]
Bill Krystol: "I think Edwards won the second half on domestic policy." [Fox News, 10/5/04 10:42pm]
Mark Shields: "John Edwards first one-on-one debate, had been billed that way, absolutely no nervousness, came out right from the start. And, and was aggressive. And Dick Cheney, I think, the vice president was really knocked back on his heels." [PBS, 10/5/04, 10:41pm]
George Will: "Mr. Edwards gave just as good as he got." [ABC, 10/5/04, 10:41pm]
Bob Schieffer: “The administration has got to find another way to argue and justify this war. The arguments that Vice-President Cheney was making tonight clearly did not take.” [CBS]
Carlos Watson: "… I think Edwards probably did a better job with persuadable voters." [CNN, 10/5/04]
Kit Seelye: "Edwards was the more engaging debater and personality. He laid out his arguments with the precision and logic that you would expect from a star litigator but also managed to smile and appear less rehearsed." [New York Times Online, 10/5/04]
Candy Crowley: “Probably for John Edwards the best moment was when he turned to Cheney and said, you know Mr. Cheney, I don’t—Mr. Vice President, I don’t think Americans can take another four years of this administration. Sort of a rendition of Ronald Reagan’s famous line of are you better off. That clearly was one that he had been waiting to deliver. Obviously an effective line.” (CNN, 10:51)
Peter Jennings: “Anybody who thought that Senator Edwards was going to be rolled by the experienced Vice President I think will have a second thought.” [10:40, ABC]
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I thought Edwards more than held his own and that Cheney looked grumpy and tired. He was obviously out of breath at times, and couldn't get much air up to push his words to a good volume. He also ignored many questions and kept looking at the desk instead of the camera. He lied several times about his never claiming 9-11 and Saddam were linked. I thought Edwards' answers were mostly clear and on message. All Edwards had to do was avoid commiting a big mistake. I think he did much better than that and defended Kerry quite well. It was amazing how few times Cheney mentioned Bush's name. I guess he really does think he's the real prez! What do you think?
October 5, 2004 at 11:27 PM in Candidates & Races, Events | Permalink
Comments
Since Cheney is pulling the strings, there should be a Cheney v Kerry debate and a Bush v Edwards debate... I'd love to see the latter! Oh, and I'd love to see Lynn v Elizabeth and Laura v Teresa, too.
Posted by: nancy | Oct 5, 2004 11:50:00 PM
In the court of public opinion, Edwards won by a decision. Even Fox News has only 1 percentage point between them, with Cheney in the lead. Every other poll I've seen has Edwards winning slightly or, sometimes, substantially.
Cheney was supposed to be the debate-seasoned juggernaut, and he couldn't remember where his mic was, so kept covering it with his suit jacket and his hands.
My favorite point was when Cheney had challenged Edwards' admittedly poor attendance record in the Senate, and Edwards fired back about Cheney's own voting record, including voting against Head Start and for plastic guns that can pass unobserved through metal detectors.
The other issue with last night's debate was Gwen Ifill's choice of questions. They were generally slanted against Kerry-Edwards. Edwards also kept trying to get her to ask a question about health care. But to ask about flip-flopping, and about Edwards' lack of experience - perpetuating the Bush campaign's framing of the race - seemed disingenuous and partisan to me. I admit that there was at least one question phrased to be difficult for Cheney, but overall I'd have to say she leaned toward the incumbents. Remember when she said, "I asked about Israel, but the Senator didn't talk about it"? PLEASE!
Posted by: John McAndrew | Oct 6, 2004 8:29:59 AM
Another disappointment was that Ifill didn't ask any questions about energy or the environment. Meanwhile, she pushed two questions out there about gay marriage, no doubt to try and get a soundbite out of Cheney. I'm gay and certainly support keeping the Constitution out of any decision on gay marriage, but to me the detrimental effects of the Bush/Cheney policies on energy and the environment are much more critical to our future on the planet.
Posted by: barbwire | Oct 6, 2004 9:07:04 AM
the funniest comparison that I have heard is that Cheney looked like a racoon....wringing his hands....compulsively like a little racoon
Posted by: mary ellen | Oct 6, 2004 5:05:46 PM
and oh yeah...liars liars pantz on fire...
Posted by: mary ellen | Oct 6, 2004 5:06:19 PM
Well, the funniest comparison I heard was that Cheney and Edwards looked like Garfield and Nermal, respectively, Nermal being the cute little cat which Garfield quietly loathes. Comparison was made by a young columnist on the CNN web site.
Posted by: John McAndrew | Oct 6, 2004 6:23:17 PM
