How big a deal is the video of Cheney meeting Edwards? When I first saw it, I thought, oh, that's nice ... it might get some play on TV given that there's a nice clip ... but overall the media will give Cheney a pass.
Well, at least one astute GOP observer http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/blog_10_6_04_1429.html has a different take. RCP felt compelled to write a very defensive editorial. And, they weren't trying to wave it off ... or find some reason to say that, well, those other meetings don't really count. They were saying, oh, it MUST have been an oversight. And, catch this part: "All of that being said, it was a remarkably bad gaffe with potentially serious consequences. The Vice President needs to step up immediately and diffuse the situation."
RCP clearly thinks this is big enough to impact the election. And, if they're right, it will be tough to diffuse. Because, as soon as Cheney steps up and says, "jeez, honest mistake," then KE04 pulls out the howitzers on the "every Tuesday" part of the gaffe. My wife, who is not a political junkie at all, thought that in light of what Cheney said in the debate, if it is widely publicized that Cheney presided on only 2 Tuesdays over the last 4 years, Bush is toast. And, she is no polyanna. She (and I) thought Cheney won the debate. And, in any case, it totally undermines an attempt to feign bad memory. Hard to say, "oh I also kind of forgot that I NEVER preside over the Senate on Tuesdays."