cheney vs. edwards

[Inmate Trump]

First let me get this out of the way:  I don't like Cheney; I never have liked him.

I've always liked Edwards, ever since he started running in the Dem presidential primary.

In this debate, Cheney appears to be winning.  Edwards just isn't...quite...there.  It's almost as if the roles have been reversed when compared to the last big debate, between Bush and Kerry, in which Bush lost and Kerry won, but neither by wide margins.  That's how this debate seems to be, with Cheney winning and Edwards losing, but neither by huge margins.

To me, it's as if Edwards just doesn't know how this debate thing works.  He isn't getting it.  Cheney, of course, has much more experience with this type of thing, and that shows.  Tonight isn't a good night for Edwards, and perhaps Kerry as well--and that's coming from someone who looks highly on John Edwards, and down on Dick Cheney.

The big question for discussion is will either candidates performance help their #1 guy now in the polls, and, later, on election day?

[Inmate Trump]

John Edwards couldn't remeber the rules in the debate and kept screwing up.  Either he simply isn't good at following rules, or he simply wasn't paying much attention.  Or he didn't care about the rules.  And when he did screw up, he'd smile and utter some foolish "Oops, I did it again" line in his dumb sounding Southern boy accent.

He's been portrayed as positive, but he wasn't positive about anything last night.  He's been portrayed as a good debater; he wasn't.  He failed to successfully challenge Cheney on *anything* last night.  Every time Edwards attempted to challenge the administration, he was shot down with whatever Cheney responded with.  He took cheap shots, he was extremely negative.

That said, Cheney was also extremely negative, and he took many cheap shots.  The biggest difference is Cheney had more facts to back up his cheap shots and negativity.  Another difference is Cheney's remarks were far more memorable than anything Edwards said.  Cheney came across as incredibly knowledgeable on the issues, very smooth... he didn't waffle on questions as President Bush did.

This debate was easily Cheney's.  That said, I don't think it'll help his ticket much.  I've already called this election to Kerry/Edwards.