[Dolphy]

I don't know who she may have attempted to embarrass with her question, I happen to think it was valid (Over 162,000 African Americans were living with AIDS in the United States. They accounted for 42% of all people in the United States living with AIDS, according to the CDC).

Edwards, I think, said he would double the funding of in Africa. So if she was attempting to embarrass Cheney, Edwards stepped right into the punch. That hurts the Dems who already are struggling with lukewarm support among blacks.

[kabar]

She was talking about black women, not the entire black community. She wanted to know what the USG was going to do to address it. Basically, it is a matter of personal responsibility. Blacks also make up a disproportionate share of the inmate problem, which is even a greater problem in terms of numbers. Most of them however are men.

My point is that Ifill was quite biased in her questioning. Some examples from the transcript.

Question 5 -- Is Cheney saying a Kerry presidency would be dangerous?

IFILL: Mr. Vice President, a new question for you. When the president says that Senator Kerry is emboldening enemies and you say that we could get hit again if voters make the wrong choice in November, are you saying that it would be a dangerous thing to have John Kerry as president?

Question 1 -- The report you requested said there was no link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.

IFILL: Vice President Cheney, there have been new developments in Iraq, especially having to do with the administration's handling.

Paul Bremer, the former head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, gave a speech in which he said that we have never had enough troops on the ground, or we've never had enough troops on the ground.

Donald Rumsfeld said he has not seen any hard evidence of a link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. Was this approved -- of a report that you requested that you received a week ago that showed there was no connection between Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Saddam Hussein?

Question 4 -- What did Kerry say about "global test"?

IFILL: New question to you, Senator Edwards, but I don't want to let go of the global test question first, because ... I want people to understand exactly what it is, as you said, that Senator Kerry did say.

IFILL: He said, "You've got to do" -- you know, he was asked about preemptive action at the last debate -- he said, "You've got to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons." What is a global test if it's not a global veto?

I don't have the entire transcript yet, but the tenor and substance of most of her questions were meant to put Cheney on the defensive. Her questions to Edwards were given so that Edwards could clarify and rebut issues that came up in the Bush-Kerry debate. The global test was one of them. She made sure Edwards had an additional opportunity to address this issue before moving to the next question.