Veep Debate

A draw. Hits taken on both sides. Cheney left his fangs on his nightstand but still managed to zing Edwards a few times, stretching the truth from time to time. Edwards was affable and engaging and landed some choice blows against Cheney (“Haliburton…Haliburton…Haliburton”) as well.

I thought the exchange about the “90% of coalition casualties” one of the more fiery highlights of the whole thing. Kerry made a tactical (and technically, grammatical) error last week when he repeated that the US is bearing “90% of the casualties and 90% of the cost” of the Iraq war. He did not clarify that he was speaking of the coalition forces, our allies. No doubt he opted for the simpler phrasing so that the message would stick in the viewers minds. But he left himself open for correction (which in today’s political parlance means “he lied”…sigh). So, John Edwards was careful to clarify his numbers. The first time he said it like this:

You know, we've taken 90 percent of the coalition causalities. American taxpayers have borne 90 percent of the costs of the effort in Iraq.
And we see the result of there not being a coalition: The first Gulf war cost America $5 billion. We're at $200 billion and counting.

Then later we saw this exchange, one of the more “informal” moments of the whole debate:

EDWARDS: The vice president suggests that we have the same number of countries involved now that we had in the first Gulf War. The first Gulf War cost the American people $5 billion.

And regardless of what the vice president says, we're at $200 billion and counting. Not only that, 90 percent of the coalition casualties, Mr. Vice President, the coalition casualties, are American casualties. Ninety percent of the cost of this effort are being borne by American taxpayers. It is the direct result of the failures of this administration.

IFILL: Mr. Vice President?

CHENEY: Classic example. He won't count the sacrifice and the contribution of Iraqi allies. It's their country. They're in the fight. They're increasingly the ones out there putting their necks on the line to take back their country from the terrorists and the old regime elements that are still left. They're doing a superb job. And for you to demean their sacrifices strikes me as...

EDWARDS: Oh, I'm not...

CHENEY: ... as beyond...

EDWARDS: I'm not demeaning...

CHENEY: It is indeed. You suggested...

EDWARDS: No, sir, I did not...

CHENEY: ... somehow they shouldn't count, because you want to be able to say that the Americans are taking 90 percent of the sacrifice. You cannot succeed in this effort if you're not willing to recognize the enormous contribution the Iraqis are increasingly making to their own future.

Actually the transcript I cribbed from above which I got from C-SPAN does not have Edwards leaning towards Cheney, talking over him saying “Coalition casualties, Mr. Vice President. Coalition…” as I recall him doing. Still, Cheney’s feigned (?) disgust with Edwards’ supposed lack of concern for the Iraqi’s was a well-placed punch even if it was below the belt.

One of Edwards better placed jabs was when he took on the Bush administration’s flip-flops:

Now, flip-flops: They should know something about flip-flops. They've seen a lot of it during their administration.
They were first against the 9/11 Commission; then they were for it. They were for a department of homeland security -- I mean, they were against the Department of Homeland Security; then they were for it.
They said they were going to put $2 trillion of the surplus when they came into office aside to protect Social Security; then they changed their minds. They said that they supported the troops; and then while our troops were on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, they went to the Congress and lobbied to have their combat pay cut.
They said that they were going to do something about health care in this country. And they've done something: They've made it worse.
They said that they were going to fund their No Child Left Behind; $27 billion short today.
Over and over, this administration has said one thing and done another.

I also liked his equating Cheney’s tenure as CEO of Halliburton with Ken Lay and Enron. Unfortunately, this was tossed off like a throw-away line and I don’t think it stuck.
In the end, both men acquitted themselves well but since Edwards, “the trial lawyer”, was expected to trounce Cheney, I think this may be considered a slight victory for the Bush folks. Edwards may have “won” the debate but he did not beat the spread.