Genii Weblog

Edwards, Cheney both strong

Wed 6 Oct 2004, 07:55 AM



by Ben Langhinrichs
This debate was much more evenly balanced than Thursday's, in which John Kerry beat George Bush so handily.  Both John Edwards and Dick Cheney were in good form, calm and serious.  Both got in some good digs at the other.  Actually, I would think that Cheney's performance would have a mixed reception in the Bush headquarters, because it tended to show up Bush's weak performance, but Cheney managed to convey the message he wanted to convey.  I would guess the Kerry people were very happy with John Edwards, simply because there had been numerous predictions that Cheney would "put Edwards away", which he completely failed to do.

All in all, a draw, but since a draw puts the pressure so squarely back on President Bush, it was perhaps a tactical win for the Kerry/Edwards ticket.  I know that anything can be spun either way, but short of getting Dick Cheney to lose it and start swearing at him during the debate, there was little John Edwards could have done to shake the veteran campaigner.  Dick Cheney's job was to make John Edwards look green and inexperienced, and he didn't get that job done.

True to form, the on-line polls show a huge win for Edwards (the Democrats clearly getting all their people out to stack the vote better than the Republicans), but the more believable polls show a split, with ABC saying Cheney won and CBS showing Edwards won.  Most of the media seem to think this was very big for the Democrats, since all Edwards had to do was tie.  I personally think it simply becomes a potential trap avoided, and signifying little else.  The focus is back on the head of each ticket for Friday's debate.

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What has been said:


218.1. Nate (10/07/2004 01:24 PM)

Well put.