Rick's Cafe Americain

I think it was much closer than the presidential debate, but I have to give Cheney the win on this one.

I pretty much agree with your assessment, so I won’t repeat any similar points.  I think referring to Edwards as a lightweight is a bit of an exaggeration, especially since in your final analysis you don’t seem to suggest that the gap was as large as that comment would seem to indicate.

In terms of who won in the only sense that matters—the degree to which it will sway voters—I have no idea.  I doubt the fact that Cheney was more poised and pointed than Edwards will matter that much to swing voters—if anything the sharp divide in competence between Cheney and Bush might have an effect—and there were so many negative barbs flying, that who knows which ones will resonate with undecided (and likely fairly uniformed) voters.

It was also much more boring than the first debate and I am guessing a lot of people tuned out after about 1/2 hour.  I doubt this debate will have much impact on the presidential race.

Relatedly, I was unimpressed with Gwen Eifell(sp?).  I found a lot of her questions unsophisticated and more media sound bitey than substantive.  However, her “well that’s all you have” zinger to Cheney when he said he needed more than 30 seconds to respond was SNAP!  Highlight of the debate.  $10 says it is on the Daily Show tonight.  Translation: “I don’t give a flying shit Mr. Vice President.  You fuckers negotiated these asinine rules, don’t cry to me.”

By the way, Rick, I think the original, circa 1983, Cheney looked a lot better than Lucas’ digitally generated one.