I used to think this was a draw...

[Uzybone]

but between
"Ive never met you till tonight" (LIE)
factcheck.com (BLUNDER)
"Ive never blamed 9/11 on Iraq" (LIE)
Cheneys atrocious voting record in the House (STILL SHOCKING)
Cheneys "I could give a shit" attitude about the HIV question
and the polls that have come out so far.

I have to say I was wrong. This was another step back for Bush/ Cheney and a leap forward for Kerry/Edwards.

[4_Legs_Good]

1. I'm in perfect agreement... though the polls

are deceiving, I think.

I'm just disappointed in Edwards, because I really think he's got a lot more fire in him than he showed tonight. Bummer, totally, but still, I do think he won, mostly because of the points you mentioned above.

I hope Kerry kicks ass- utterly - on Friday.

david

[deadparrot]

5. Right on! I concur.

Edwards did fine, although he could have pulled a whole lotta shit out of his arsenal.

For being fairly new in the political world, he held his own just fine. I'm sure the one-on-one sit down format must have been imposing for someone like him.

We got what we wanted out of tonight, a draw at the worst (I'm not counting MSGOP). Undecideds heavily favored Edwards. Historically, VP debates don't have a huge impact, so I doubt we'll be seeing a huge shift in poll numbers.

[Florida_Geek]

2. the "Ive never met you till tonight"

will be major, IMHO.

[Eye and Monkey]

3. I think it was a draw for awhile - then Edwards made ground

I also think, like other posters, that he held back. Someone wrote that this was like a deposition - get 'em to say stuff so you can trap them later. Tonight doesn't end it - so that makes great sense.

[LiberalFighter]

7. That might had been the strategy... deposition *ala Clinton*

PAYBACK

Now all that needs to be done is for the media to print and televise the lies repeatedly. STRESSING with headlines that send the message.

[Devil Dog Dem]

11. Here is my thinking on the deposition analogy

Edwards didn't call out Cheney on the lies (particularly the easy ones like "never linked Saddam to 9/11" and "We've never met") because as an experienced litigator, Edwards knows that - in a deposition - it is better to lock a person in on his "testimony" then to push back and give them a chance to weasel out of it when you have them in a demonstrable lie. Then, when you are in trial you hit them with the lie in front of the jury, and their credibility is shot.

Here, had Edwards pushed back, there is a chance that Cheney would have weaseled out of it some (not sure how, but he COULD have tried). As it is now, K/E have clean statements from Cheney, and they can now run clean commercials showing Cheney saying one thing tonight, and something else long ago (like saying Saddam himself ordered airplanes into the WTC).

It took discipline, but Edwards held back and did the right thing.

This is different than calling him out on "argument" issues (like saying the war is going well) where you push him back on the issue now as well as running commercials showing him being out of touch.

[Eye and Monkey]

13. credits to you - you're my source of the analogy

Nice

[Devil Dog Dem]

14. Thanks.

I really think that is what he is thinking. It was too sweet for him not to notice.

[johnnyrocket]

4. That "I never met you" should play out nicely, if the fucking media

is doing its job. Which is rare these days.

[Robert Oak]

6. DU the media to fact check

That's going to be the real spin....Cheney is lying constantly.

[bush equals idiot]

10. The beauty of it

Cheney actually said Americans should go to factcheck.com to prove his record was not as Edwards stated it. LOL and double LOL.

[NEDem]

8. I agree except

for the polls part. The online polls are pretty much, well you know. The CBS poll of undecideds was good though, even the ABC poll wasn't bad when you factor in the oversampling of pugs.

[Guaranteed]

9. I think that tonight's results show that the people

just hate Dick Cheney.

[gemlake]

12. "you're no JFK" backfire

One reason the "I've never met you until tonight" line was such a blunder is that Cheney obviously wanted it to be a big "I knew JKF and you're no JFK" moment. I would have loved Edwards to respond--"there you go again."

[txindy]

15. Definitely. It turned into a walk for JE

Total victory! An excellent debate performance followed by a truth-challenged meltdown by Dickie. Suh-weeeeeet!
:party: