Posted on 10/06/2004 10:23:13 AM PDT by Area Freeper
John Edwards was puppy-dog happy to be debating last night. Dick Cheney was the old hound who, only because he had to, agreed to show up and fetch some answers. So both men lived up to type and hype. Neither one stomped the other, but that doesn't make it a tie game. Republicans are still in trouble.
After the veep venom fest, the GOP team is walking wounded. Democrats have the momentum, and Edwards stayed on offense most of the night. He went hard after the key to victory - sounding almost Republican-tough about killing terrorists.
Cheney's job was to stop the bleeding that started with last Thursday's presidential debate. John Kerry's strong performance, at least compared with President Bush's lackluster one, helped to push the race back to neck and neck, which is why Edwards mentioned "last Thursday" six times by my count.
Cheney actually did far better than Bush did against Kerry. But the talking abilities of Edwards the trial lawyer gave him a built-in advantage that Cheney could not overcome.
Not that he tried very hard. Although the vice president came equipped with some zingers, such as the number of times Edwards has missed Senate meetings, his body language - from slumping a lot to slumping a little - spoke louder.
So did his hands. He went from clasping and wringing them to propping up his chin while he talked. At least twice he essentially passed on a chance to speak, suggesting he either couldn't be bothered or had nothing to say. It was not an inspiring performance, even though he scored solid points to those paying close attention. He drove home repeatedly, for example, the charge that Kerry's record showed him too inconsistent to be commander-in-chief.
Unfortunately for Republicans, a TV debate puts the emphasis on TV. And Edwards looks better, sounds better and comes across as more engaged and engaging. He leaned forward and became animated, conveying energy and the promise of change. He conceded he lacks Cheney's experience, but sought to make it a virture, saying the U.S. "can't take four more years of their experience."
And Edwards zeroed in on a few key tasks. He repeated several times that he and Kerry "have a plan." He used the phrase talking about Iraq, about health care, the deficit, jobs, even on lawsuits. I got the sense somebody told him the word "plan" tested well in focus groups.
Edwards' other task was harder - to convince voters he and Kerry would be tough on terror. Polls have shown huge gaps on that issue, and it remains the final obstacle for the Kerry campaign. Millions of Americans who have doubts about Bush's policies have greater doubts about Kerry's leadership.
Edwards confronted the issue, saying how tough he and Kerry would be. "I would find the terrorists wherever they are and kill them before they do harm to us," Edwards said.
If that's the quote of the day, the whopper was Edwards' claim that "John Kerry has been completely consistent about Iraq and so have I."
The election season has obviously taught Dems the public is more serious about terrorism than the party was just months ago. That Kerry and Edwards are now talking tough is a welcome change.
They should leave it at that. They shouldn't insult voters by insisting they've been saying the same thing all along. Even a donkey knows that's not true.
New York Daily News ^ | October 6, 2004 | Michael Goodwin
John Edwards was puppy-dog happy to be debating last night. Dick Cheney was the old hound who, only because
Sure they are. One things the Left really knows how to do. Spin Control. Take the focus off the hysteric Kerry gaffes at Thursday's debate and the disasterous Edward performance and spin this as a huge win for the Left and a disaster for the Right. And of course, there will be a certain segment of Freepers who will be more then happy to hysterically parrot what ever disaster the DNC spin machine spews.
With what, Senator Gone? Spit balls???
An the spin keeps goin' roun' and roun'........
An the spin keeps goin' roun' and roun'........
An the spin keeps goin' roun' and roun'........
I hope you are right about the lead recovering. I haven't seen anything today that would suggest that. For the first time this whole year I am admittedly a little worried about this election. I don't think the debate was as bad as most people portrayed it, but Kerry was able to pick up significant favorable media coverage from it. For the last 2 months I have been wanting the election to hurry up and get here. Now I am glad we still have 4 weeks left. Sorry to sound depressed, it is not my style. We need a slid next 8 days. If that happens, then all will be fine.
I got this far. No need to read more. Delusions.
He does. On Halloween, Osama bin Laden, and Ayman Al-Zawahiri will be arrested, Carrying Kerry-Edwards signs at a Kerry Rally. They Will be wearing SEIU t-Shirts.
No one in New York reads the NY Daily News. They must have run out of cash to maintain a non-delusional writing staff. There claim that the republicans are the "walking wounded" and that dems have the momentum is similiar to the NY Daily News claiming to be anything but irrelevent.
I don't think this person watched the same debate that I did. Or it's spin at its most extreme and exaggerated.
Cheney, like Bush, looked bored, tired and not motivated. Several times, he had his hands to his jaw which impaired his speech. I have seen him talk and he is capable of better.
What is this strange fixation of some freepers have in spewing hyper critism at OUR guys while completely ignoring how pathtic the SUBSTACE was in either Kerry or Edwards? You guys spend more time whining about style then you do worrying about Kerry's plan to give Nuke fuel to the Mullahs or his "Global Test"?
An the spin keeps goin' roun' and roun'........
An the spin keeps goin' roun' and roun'........
Same spin, different speed.
What is this strange fixation of some freepers have in spewing hyper critism at OUR guys while completely ignoring how pathtic the SUBSTACE was in either Kerry or Edwards? You guys spend more time whining about style then you do worrying about Kerry's plan to give Nuke fuel to the Mullahs or his "Global Test"?
"Edwards stayed on offense most of the night"
Yep, he was scribbling harder and harder as the debate went on
It's very hard to see reality from New York City, you may have noticed over the years.
It's so good, I want a bag of Doritos just from reading what he wrote.
Selectively fact checking it seems to me...they only fact check the Republicans (and still don't do it correctly as in the case of Cheney & the AlQaeda - 9/11 "fact checking" where they only quoted half of Cheney's remarks.) I don't hear too many Democrat facts being checked....oh, that's right....Republicans lie while Democrats are nuanced. I forgot!
Pew, Gallup, ABC all have Bush up by 5-6. But what is more reassuring is that the internals are OVERWHELMING for Bush---'trusts' to handle defense, WOT, etc. Since Kerry has made this THE issue, he can't run from it.
And BOTH would be questioning the timing of their arrest?
Sorry but Edwards came across as a school boy and Cheney took him to school.
What, is he high?
What planet was this guy visiting last night?
LOL
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