The
NY Times gets the point, for a change:
As the challenger going up against a seasoned vice president, Mr. Edwards needed to demonstrate a sense of authority, his aides said, and to convince the nation that he could step into the presidency at a moment's notice.
For much of the night, he offered a competent, calm performance as he sought to turn back challenges to his experience.
Mr. Edwards frequently drew the vice president's ire - and also drew Mr. Cheney's attention away from Mr. Kerry, his intended target.
"Senator, you have a record in the Senate that is not very distinguished,'' Mr. Cheney said at one point, looking sternly at Mr. Edwards as he proceeded to scold him for missing votes in the Senate. It was 11 minutes before Mr. Cheney attacked Mr. Kerry.
Indeed, if Mr. Cheney came into the debate seeking to reverse the slippage the Republicans have witnessed since Mr. Bush's answers and demeanor Thursday night distressed many supporters, Mr. Edwards succeeded in blocking him for much of the night, although certainly not all. Instead, viewers watched two stylistically different but clearly accomplished politicians in an intense and often grim debate, and loyalists of both parties can be forgiven for thinking that the No. 2 candidates were more slashing debaters than Mr. Kerry and Mr. Bush.
Most people get the story the next day, rather than watch C-Span. And the Times understands the roles these gentlemen had last night. I love hanging here for the debates, primary nights, etc. but people have to understand that you can't lean across the table, want your guy to rip your lying opponent's lungs out on national TV and then get all disappointed when it didn't happen. Edwards did superbly, but he didn't have to. All he had to do was show that he deserved to be on the same stage as Cheney (who the country acknowledges as VP material) , and he did that and more.
The challenge for Bush is to come close to the other three guys running. I think that in holding up their end, Cheney shot their candidate in the head. The lies that Cheney told, otoh, will take care of themselves and will put another nail in the coffin. They can't run from that. The spin from Repubs will be "hey, we're still ahead in the ABC tracking poll." Heard it on Imus from right wing Jay Severin (Imus thought Edwards was superb, as well.)
But that and 9/11 is all they've got. And P.S. Note the second hightlight about the now established CW about Bush being a disaster. Congratulations, rapid responders. They're not stealing this one.
[ed]: moved up from a comment:
old CW: Edwards a heartbeat way from the presidency
new CW: Bush a heartbeat away (is he up to it? Hmmm)