Cheney - Edwards Vice Presidential Debate

Although Edwards later re-asserted his position, Chenney correctly corrected Edwards on the exaggerated $200 billion set for Iraq. Perhaps the highlight of the night was when Cheney called Kerry and Edwards on the carpet for demeaning and undermining the Iraqi people and the Iraqi president. When Edwards tried to argue his way out the exchange Cheney completely shut him down by asserting that Edwards did not value or consider the sacrifice of the Iraqi people. Here are a couple of other statements by Chenney:

Edwards did score points on the connection (or lack thereof) between Iraq and El Qaeda as well as on the heathcare debate. One remarkable feat by Edwards was to completely turn the last question into a healthcare debate that left Cheney defending the current administration's record.

Finally, I didn't think either candidate did well on the topics of gay marriage or the national debt (which was minimally discussed).

News: Transcript

MSNBC: Vice President Dick Cheney and his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, clashed sharply Tuesday night over the Bush administration’s handling of the war in Iraq in a remarkably contentious vice presidential debate, the only time they will face each other head to head.

Foxnews Facts Check

CNN, Reuters

ABC Scientific poll of 500 voters:Winner - Cheney 43 percent, Edwards 35 percent, Tie 19 percent

CBS Poll: John Edwards won the vice-presidential debate 41% to 28% among 178 uncommitted voters

MSNBC Poll: Edwards won 67% to 33% among unidentified onlne voters. [targeting online polls is a Democratic strategy. More here]

Leaning Conservative:

Beldar - Both men traded some effective jabs. (I thought Cheney landed more jabs and harder jabs — in particular, the "I'd never met you before tonight" and "if they couldn't stand up to Howard Dean, how are they going to stand up to al Qaeda?" lines — but I admit that my judgment on that score is heavily colored by my pre-existing biases.) Both displayed an impressive command of details and facts and figures. But John Edwards is a mouthpiece. He's sunny, convivial, attractive, articulate, funny, slick — and hollow.

Powerline: As Cheney pummeled Edwards, I couldn't get Howard Cosell's shrill voice out of my head: "Will somebody stop this fight? His face is a bloody pulp!" Hindrocket: Cheney's assignment tonight was to puncture the media-driven Kerry boomlet by bringing the conversation back to this issues, the facts and the arguments, especially on foreign policy. Cheney did that, and more. I scored the first Presidential debate like a boxing match with a ten-point must system. There were no knockdowns in that match. Tonight there were two. The first was when Edwards kept insisting on the fraudulence of the Iraq coalition by claiming that the U.S. is bearing 90% of the expense and suffering 90% of the casualties. ... The second knockdown was when Cheney criticized Edwards' lackluster record as a Senator, noting that he had missed 70% of the meetings of the Intelligence Committee, of which he was a member, and that his home-town paper had labeled him "Senator Gone." Deacon: Tonight's vice presidential debate featured two superb performances. Unfortunately for John Edwards, they were delivered by the incumbent and by moderator Gwen Ifill. Give Edwards credit for a good college try.

Allah is in the House - Putting together a comprehensive summary - growing, excellent read . . .

Hugh Hewitt - A must read including a debate scorecard. "A Cheney win, but no disaster for Edwards, though perhaps for Kerry. Cheney wins because of the "global test" exchange and the repeated blows at Kerry's record --not Edwards-- and nailed Edwards on the refusal to count Iraqi casualties. Key thing is that Kerry's record is back on the table. Cheney is very hard hitting on the reality of the war --one weapon in one city-- and a strong defense of Bush as Commander-in-Chief."

BlogsforBush: Tonight, Vice President Cheney clobbered John Edwards in their first and only debate

Jim Geraghty: My initial conclusion: This was the single most devastating one-sided drubbing since Lloyd Bentsen smacked Dan Quayle all around the stage in 1988.

Polipundit: Tonight I felt like I was looking at a kid trying to get out of a tough spot by pointing his finger at the other guy. The thing that I found so hard to square with the brilliant, hot shot lawyer image though was Edwards’ closing statement. Edwards actually said America’s light is flickering and then spit out a little more doom and gloom

INDC Journal: Overall? Judging for polarization, the minimal impact of the VP race, windspeed and direction, I'd say that the functional impact is minimal, with a slight advantage to Cheney.

InTheBullPen: Summation: In a quick summation, Dick Cheney completely outclassed John Edwards in a number of ways. Not only did Cheney appear more presidential, he made sounder arguments while Edwards repeated much of what Kerry has said, not to mention Michael Moore.

Michelle Malkin: Here is the opening paragraph of the AP post-debate propaganda masquerading as analysis: "With cold efficiency, Vice President Dick Cheney sought to eviscerate the credibility of the Democratic presidential ticket Tuesday night.." Can you imagine an AP report focusing on Edwards' performance that began "With gooey unctuousness, Sen. John Edwards etc..."

Poliblogger: Cheney came across as having far more information than Edwards with a clear, calm command of the facts. Edwards did a good job, but his answers came across as a mix of serious policy, pure politics, and pre-prepared attack points. Edwards was much more of an attack dog than was Cheney. I predict that because Edwards had no major gaffes, that the pundits will declare him vice-presidential, and therefore, the winner (since these things are more about perception than substance). However, on substance, Cheney won in my mind.

Captain's Quarters (new): Edwards repeatedly stated, "No state for the last 200 years has ever had to recognize another state's marriage." Edwards went on to criticize for "using the Constitution as a political tool." I'd like to direct the trial attorney's attention to Article IV of the US Constitution, Section 1, also known as the Full Faith and Credit Clause. States are compelled by law to recognize marriages performed in other states. If any state performs a marriage between homosexuals, then all other states in the union will be bound to recognize it, regardless of that state's law

Vodkapundit: So Edwards did just fine, but Cheney did better. Will it affect the polls? Maybe, but not nearly as much as the three Presidential Debates will.

Leaning Liberal:

Daily Kos - Cheney LIES LIES LIES: Cheney claimed that he had never met Edwards before: Addressing the National Prayer Breakast, Cheney said: "Thank you. Thank you very much. Congressman Watts, Senator Edwards, friends from across America and distinguished visitors to our country from all over the world, Lynne and I honored to be with you all this morning." [FDCH Political Transcripts, Cheney Remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast, 2/1/01]

Andrew Sullivan: Boy was I ever wrong. If last Thursday night's debate was an assisted suicide for president Bush, this debate - just concluded - was a car wreck. And Cheney was road-kill. There were times when it was so overwhelming a debate victory for Edwards that I had to look away. I have to do C-SPAN now, but stay tuned for more post-debate blogging in a little while.

Washington Monthly: In summary, then, it looks like Edwards won. Not as decisively as Kerry did last Thursday, but a win nonetheless.

Josh Marshall: I think the Kerry folks are pretty happy with what they saw; I doubt the Bush-Cheney folks are feeling the same way.

Updates:

Thanks to PoliticalBrief for the link and excellent weblog entry.

Fred Barnes: Dick Cheney does his job taking care of Edwards, putting Kerry's record back on the table, and setting the president up for the next debate.

The American Mind (a good read): Who won? I give the edge to Cheney because he dealt with the election's most important issue, the Islamist War, in a serious way. Cheney reinforced the attitude that the Bush administration would be steadfast in fighting the war and would have no hesitation in striking back at America's enemies. Edwards was good on domestic issues using stories to connect policy with everyday life. However, in Edwards' America you'd think it was the Great Depression redux.

Check-out the cartoon displayed by Neophytepundit.