Tactical Verdict:
Quoth Walter Sobchak in "The Big Lebowski:""Donny, you are out of your element."
Edwards had his chance and blew it. He stated "John Kerry has a plan" and never told us what the plan is. He flubbed the attack on Cheney and Halliburton, tried to nail Cheney for confusing Osama and Saddam, only to end up confusing the two himself.
I think the most telling moment is the question when Gwen Ifill asked Cheney and Edwards to talk about their records without mentioning Bush or Kerry. Edwards mentioned Kerry. Twice. And I really didn't see any of the vaulted "trial lawyer mojo" at work, either.
Cheney, I think, proved why he's on the ticket. He doesn't look pretty, but he knew his stuff. And Edwards unintentionally gave Cheney an opportunity to show his human side when he tried to use Cheney's lesbian daughter to attack Bush on gay marriage. Cheney simply said thanks for the nice words about his daughter, and said no more. I could see the question got to him a little. Very interesting.
Strategic Verdict: Whatever ground Bush lost, Cheney regained. Expect slight movements back in the polls. And expect the Bush team to be studying Cheney's performance very carefully for use against Kerry, especially on Kerry's vulnerable parts on his Senate record.
Best Pundit line of the night: John Stewart: "Wow. It was all going very boringly, and then Dick Cheney unhinged his jaw, and then swallowed and began slowly digesting John Edwards. When asked by the moderator to explain, he said "I need his life force."
Thanks to the fine folks at the Command Post for their Debate chat. (One more word about the Yankees, though, and I'm going to start dropping them like Don Zimmer.)
Posted by Thief at October 5, 2004 11:26 PM