The VP Debate

Tonight during the debate, Cheney said:

And Senator, frankly, you have a record in the Senate that's not very distinguished. You've missed 33 out of 36 meetings in the Judiciary Committee, almost 70 percent of the meetings of the Intelligence Committee.

You've missed a lot of key votes: on tax policy, on energy, on Medicare reform.

Your hometown newspaper has taken to calling you "Senator Gone." You've got one of the worst attendance records in the United States Senate.

Now, in my capacity as vice president, I am the president of Senate, the presiding officer. I'm up in the Senate most Tuesdays when they're in session.

The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight.

Sharon and I looked each other.

"Ouch," said Sharon.

UPDATE: Apparently, Cheney lied. He's met Edwards before and it's all over the net this morning. Go to Talk Left for more information. This administration will say anything to get ahead, won't they?

But still I think it went pretty well. Edwards really nailed Cheney on the Halliburton stuff. Nailed him on the lost jobs. Nailed him on prescription drugs.

The problem for the Dems was Cheney didn't come off as a jerk the way Bush did. Cheney sounded really good at times. And, at times, Edwards sounded like an angry yapping dog. Still, as the debate wore on, Cheney lost ground. Edwards stuck to his message and I think he ended up looking pretty good. I do wish he hadn't used an emotional personal anecdote in his closing statement. Cheney's closing was simple, straightforward, and, if I didn't know better (and trust me, I do), I'd have believed that Bush and he could do the job.

I don't think the debate hurt Kerry's chances at all. And it might have helped him. So that's good.