VP Debate preview and review

Weekly Mail Special Vice President Debate Preview

    Tuesday night is the Vice Presidential debate in Cleveland. A case of contrasting styles. The smiling
peppy John Edwards, vs. the dark grimacing Dick Cheney.
    As I've said before, there are people out there who hate Bush, but save most of their hatred for
Cheney. Many people believe that it is indeed Cheney who makes all the decisions while Bush is mainly a
figurehead, especially when it comes to foreign policy.
    I like Edwards alot and I think he could bring some fresh ideas to the table. My big problem with him
is that he sometimes relies more on style than on substance. When you hear about some of the big
cases his won as a lawyer, you hear about how he charmed the juries. Even as he was running for
President, he said that "we need a southerner to challenge Bush" Meaning that you needed someone who
could charm the electorate the way he charmed those juries. Someone once said, "Charm can only get
you so far, after that, you better know something." This debate will give us the chance to see what he's,
got.
    In 2000, when Cheney debated Sen. Joe Lieberman, the few people who watched it said that it was
one of the most civil debates they had ever seen. There were no personal attacks, no insults, just an
honest debate of the issues by two men who clearly respected each other. The Bush camp has made
little secret that it considers Edwards to be a novice and a lightweight. For Democrats, that might be a
good thing. If they underestimate Edwards, or over estimate Cheney, another upset could be pulled here.
Either way, it should be more interesting than the average VP debate.
   

Subject: Weekly Mail Special---- Vice President Debate Review

    I watched most of this debate at work. I'll admit I had one eye on the Yankee game and I missed a bit
of the second part where they talked about domestic policy. I hate to say it, but I have to give the W to
the Vice President on this one.
    To his credit, John Edwards came out swinging, used some harsh words, not just his smile
and personality against Dick Cheney. But to me, he looked just as agitated and uncomfortable as
President Bush did last week. He tripped over his words more times than I could count and set himself
up to get knocked down a few times by Cheney. Cheney on the other hand, was prepared, focused and
stayed on his message.
    Edwards scored his points. He took on Cheney's involvement with Halliburton, and he called Cheney
on his inconsistencies when it came to linking 9/11 with Saddam Hussein.  And this was closer than the
Presidential debate, but Cheney was the winner here.
    Now based on what I read in the papers and the TV networks analysis, it was about 50/50. Maybe
because they didn't expect Edwards to come out swinging, they were pleasantly surprised. I don't know.
As I said before, I do think Edwards is a good man, while Cheney is awfully shady. And maybe that's the
key here. No matter what Cheney said or did, people still think he's evil and can't bring themselves to
give him any credit.
    I give him credit for this: He's got ice-water in his veins and he used his experience and knowledge to
his advatnage last night. It's doubtful this will change anyone's mind about who they are going to vote
for, it may not have helped Bush much, but it sure as hell didn't help Kerry, that's for sure.

NEXT DEBATE- Kerry-Bush II: At Town Hall debate-Friday night in St. Louis