We managed to watch about ten minutes of the debates before Margie insisted she had to leave the room (her Cheney threshold is a lot lower than mine). Since I’d seen all I really wanted to see myself, I just changed the channel. Doubtless that means I missed the Really Key Moment that Proved That Guy’s A Lying Buffoon If Only I’d Seen It (fill in the That Guy of your choice).
Major observation:
- Cheney acts (duh) like a CEO at a business meeting. Unpretentious but arrogant. You can imagine him cutting off someone at the knees as easily as defining a strategy.
- Edwards acts (duh) like a lawyer addressing the jury. More genial, more glib, more polished in presentation, more sound-bitey.
I’d certainly much rather hear John Edwards giving speeches for the next four years. I’m less sure I’d rather have him representing the US at a negotiating table.
I find Cheney’s “we” and “our” (Administration) references only slightly less irritating than Edwards’ “John Kerry and John Edwards” third person references. Neither of them used the first person singular enough.
I didn’t find either of them significantly less fact-challenged than the other. Both repeated the same charges as their campaign ads have been making, with the same errors and misrepresentations. Both were willing to paint things as jet black or gleaming white depending on what their own interests wanted it to be.
Feh.
Ah, Dick Cheney. Fond father of a lesbian daughter, selling her down the river for the political bottom line. GOP family values at work.
I certainly cannot (and will not) defend the GOP record (let alone their platform) on gay rights.
Factcheck.com — er, Factcheck.org‘s wrap-up on the debate.
(Not surprisingly, given Cheney’s ref to the site (even with the wrong TLD), their servers are getting hammered pretty heavily. On the other hand, it’s a site well-worth the publicity, though it cuts heavily both ways.)
I liked J-Walk’s conclusion:
A sleazy corporate politician vs. a sleazy lawyer wanna-be politician. Both of them simply reciting well-rehearsed and meaningless words.
I like factcheck.com better though…
Heh. A fortuitous siezed opportunity.
I like Matt Welch’s comment, too:
My one exceedingly minor observation was that it was discombobulating to watch this congenitally sunny-side-up pretty boy try his left-handed best to prove that we’re all Screwed, while the cranky old man with acid reflux barked out the Case for Optimism. Weird.
And then there’s Defective Yeti’s reaction:
Overall I thought things were kind of boring, but I did like the ending, when Cheney cut off Edward’s hand and then revealed himself to be his father.