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VP debate

While I admit to only catching about half of last night's vice presidential debate, I was able to absorb plenty of the afterward analysis on TV. Viewer polls seem to already be calling it a draw, but the pundit classes seem to have, at least in the immediate aftermath, awarded the win to Vice President Cheney. But what was considered one of Cheney's strongest moments was based on a remark that simply wasn't true. The VP, berating Sen. Edwards' attendance record, claimed that in his capacity as president of the Senate, he had never before met Edwards. This statement, however, is undermined by a couple of facts. The senator and Cheney had met at least twice before: once when the vice president personally acknowledged Edwards at a prayer breakfast in 2001, and they met again last year at the swearing in of Sen. Elizabeth Dole. And while Cheney may, as he claimed, visit Capitol Hill once a week while the Senate is in session, as Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy pointed out, he only meets with Republicans. In the broader context, this statement loses even more weight, when played against Edwards' attack on Cheney's own woeful voting record in the House of Representatives. Okay, Sen. Edwards' attendance record while running first for president, then vice president, hasn't been that good. But just because Cheney had better attendance in the House doesn't render his votes against Head Start, Meals On Wheels, the Department of Education, creating Martin Luther King Day and a resolution calling on South Africa to free Nelson Mandela any more defensible. Sure, he showed up for class, but he still failed the test. Another apparent gaffe was when Cheney claimed never to have asserted a connecton between Saddam Hussein and 9-11. This was of course refuted when NBC News was immediately able to locate footage of him asserting that very connection. So, whether you consider it a draw, or a Cheney victory, it seems the vice president's performance last night mirrors the history of this administration: all style, and little truth. Respond

Posted by Daniel Thies at October 6, 2004 11:24 AM