No, Matthew Dowd was acting like an idiot. That question from Wallace was a big ol' slow pitch. Let me show you how I would have answered it:
Chris, I just have to ask, is that all they've got? The American people know Dick Cheney isn't a bigot or cold-hearted or a corporate robber baron, that's why they voted for him and President Bush in 2000 when these charges were first debunked. Intelligence failures got 3,000 Americans killed on 9/11, Senators Kerry and Edwards have both missed a ton of intel committee meetings, and their excuse is some 20 year old Dick Cheney vote. It's just plain silly.
Easy hit.
It was also pretty fun to watch cahill talk about how the $87 Billion vote was an example of the Bush campaign "focusing on the past." Dang, there are troops still in Iraq right now who were there when the buttheads cast the vote, it's not like it's ancient history!
Just because you could have answered it better doesn't mean it wasn't a stupid question.