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.
Keep up the good work.
crack kills
LOL!!!!
Man, this guy is just plain ole "wacked out." I don't know what rose-colored glasses he was looking through but Cheney stomped Edwards but good.
What hyper critism? What whining? Do you really believe Cheney was at his best? Yes or No?
What do you disagree with? BTW, it was not an assessment, it was merely a comment.
"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."
Well now, that decribes the word BULLSHIT very accurately.
LOL. You cut the debate time in half! Did you hear any thing from Edwards then? LOL
He suffers from left wing myopia and diarrhea of the mouth.
Edwards got his ass handed to him on a silver platter. No matter how many times I say this it never gets old, 20 years in the senate shows a lot more about a man than 20 weeks of campaign rhetoric. Verry/Leftwards both are ultra libs, both anti defense, anti military, pro social programs, tax increases, partial birth abortion, for the right to death (choose), and against death penalty. The smoke and mirrors are not fooling me. W 04'
LOL, why are so many Republicans ready to push the panic button if as they see it Cheney or Bush or any other Republican doesn't "attack" as much as they think they should or could?? Crimeny folks, take a pill. At some point you can be too much of an attack dog and turn off voters, which is what Kerry and his puppy dog Edwards run the risk of. Calm down. The election isn't over just because Edwards attacks. What the hell did you expect the Dems. to do? They've been attacking all along and still Bush retains a lead, albeit a small one, in most LIKELY VOTER polls. Stop thinking the ship is sinking just because it's sailing through some waves.
LOL, why are so many Republicans ready to push the panic button if as they see it Cheney or Bush or any other Republican doesn't "attack" as much as they think they should or could?? Crimeny folks, take a pill. At some point you can be too much of an attack dog and turn off voters, which is what Kerry and his puppy dog Edwards run the risk of. Calm down. The election isn't over just because Edwards attacks. What the hell did you expect the Dems. to do? They've been attacking all along and still Bush retains a lead, albeit a small one, in most LIKELY VOTER polls. Stop thinking the ship is sinking just because it's sailing through some waves.
This is too funny. I can't tell you the number of times over the years, that when picking a jury, I've asked the pool of potential jurors whether they would form a negative opinion of me or my client if I decided to limit my cross examination of a witness to only one or two questions or perhaps not ask any questions at all, and more times than not the potential jurors will break into applause. My point is that a really good advocate knows to pick and choose his battles, not every issue needs to be debated until the time runs out, there is no weakness in knowing when to shut up, and that often the best way to respond to the ridiculouse is by not responding at all.
If you missed Bush's speech this morning you missed a treat. He was just as you would have wished and then some.
"Yeah, and what about Halliburton?"
No one, other than the hard core libs, cares about Halliburton. Even Brian Williams at NBC debunked the Halliburton no bid issue. The only other company capable of doing what Halliburton does is a French one (Schlumberger). This is a nonstarter with most voters and Edwards' fixation on this topic last night showed he was grasping at anything to stop the whuppin' Cheney was giving him.
In Pennsylvania? He was excellent! The audience just loved him. THAT was president Bush!
I guess its to late to tell Marcia Clark that...
That's the one!
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