Cheney and Edwards turn up the heat

Those who decided to watch Edwards battle Cheney could almost feel the heat radiating from both candidates in a debate that was much more contentious than the presidential debates.

Similar to the presidential debates, neither vice-presidential candidate made any memorable blunders that will significantly change the course of the election. As both candidates proved, it is in the very nature of the vice president to simply reiterate the main contentions of their respective presidential candidates.

The only way either vice-presidential candidate could have "won" this debate was to simply hold their own and not make any memorable mistakes. In this respect, Edwards was more successful. Edwards was able to hold his own against the much more experienced Cheney, and he was able to effectively, in some ways more so than Kerry, reinforce the main Democratic campaign assertions.

The vice-presidential debate was set up in the same way as the presidential debate, with a moderator asking questions and with strict, timed responses from both candidates to answer the question and refute their opponent's answers.

At the beginning of the debate, sparks were flying constantly in response to questions about Iraq. This merely proves what most people have already concluded - that Iraq is the hot topic of this year's election and will probably be the deciding factor for many voters.

The debate calmed down towards the end as malpractice suits and insurance policies in medicine became the focus. These topics were too technical and too obscure to grab the attention of voters.

As Bush did in the presidential debates, Cheney seemed to lose his momentum as the debate began to end. At the beginning, he was very accusatory and condescending towards his younger and less experienced opponent.

But instead of just calling the Democratic candidate a flip flopper, Cheney accused his opponent of being absent from the sessions themselves. "You've missed 33 out of 36 meetings in the Judiciary Committee, almost 70 percent of the meetings of the Intelligence Committee," Cheney said. He concluded, "You've got one of the worst attendance records in the United States Senate."

However, as soon as the debate shifted from an international to a domestic focus, Cheney seemed less fiery, sometimes even walking away from perfect opportunities to shoot Edwards down. This is probably due to the fact that the Republican campaign has run entirely on two strategies: bash Kerry and Edwards record and exploit international turmoil and terrorism. Cheney had little to say in response to Edward's assaults on the Bush administration's domestic policy.

Edwards was relentless in citing facts about the effect that the Bush administration has had on the American economy. "In the time that they have been in office, in the last four years, 1.6 million private sector jobs have been lost, 2.7 million manufacturing jobs have been lost," he said.

Overall, Edwards accomplished what he had set out to do: to not lose any momentum that was already gained for the Kerry campaign during the presidential debates. His career as a trial lawyer shined through as he strengthened Kerry's message by bringing more concrete facts and proof to the table.

What Edwards did most effectively was to discredit the charge that Kerry and Edwards are flipfloppers. Edwards was able to shoot these attacks down by returning the accusations with equal fervor and by citing specific instances where Cheney and Bush voted similarly and flip flopped. "This vice president, when he was secretary of defense, cut over 80 weapons systems, including the very ones he's criticizing John Kerry for voting against," he said.

Cheney has often attacked both Kerry and Edwards voting records as "not very distinguished." What Edwards managed to do was to show how Cheney's record is not as impressive either. "He was one of ten to vote against Head Start, one of four to vote against banning plastic weapons that can pass through metal detectors," Edwards said. "He voted against the Department of Education. He voted against funding for Meals on Wheels for seniors. He voted against a holiday for Martin Luther King. He voted against a resolution calling for the release of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. It's amazing to hear him criticize either my record or John Kerry's."

Edwards later accused the Bush administration of using the subject of gay marriages for political purposes only. "We should not use the Constitution to divide this country," Edwards said. He concluded later that "[their position] is using the Constitution as a political tool, and it's wrong."

The topic of gay marriages left Cheney without a response because he agrees with the Democratic nominees on the topic – that marriage should not be allowed for same sex couples but that a prohibition against gay marriage should not be put into the constitution, that the decision be merely left to the individual state's discretion.

Although Edwards was able to bring new ideas to the table and dispute nearly all of the Republican campaign stances, the debate will probably not have a major effect on the election as a whole.