The Vice Presidential Debate (Oct. 5, 2004)

The candidates were admirable -- polished, persuasive, and brave.

I have only one quibble really, concerning the lack of coordination between the campaigns. There was evidently a mixup of scripts, with the unfortunate result (apparently unnoticed by the candidates) that rebuttals generally had no connection with the statements being rebutted. There was a similar screwup involving moderator Gwen Ifill's questions, which somehow managed to be inconsistent with both men's scripts.

Apart from that it was perfect.

Admittedly, it would have looked better if John Edwards had better restrained his wild laughter. His barely suppressed hilarity didn't jibe well with the topics under discussion. As the New York Times mildly observed: "Mr. Edwards showed flashes of his smile and exuberance, but mostly spoke in somber tones."

(Incidentally, that sentence, and the news article in which it appeared -- "Cheney and Edwards Split Sharply on Iraq Policy," by Richard W. Stevenson and Robin Toner, which I read in this morning's paper edition of the Times -- have been completely vaporized from the Internet. Neither Google, nor Yahoo, nor the Times's own search page acknowledge that the article ever existed. My search on the headline yielded "Cheney and Edwards split sharply on Iraq," a different article in today's Indianapolis Star, but there's no sign of the one I have inside the paper lying beside my computer.)

The two men's scripts did happen to dovetail occasionally, but the result was not necessarily enlightening:

CHENEY: The Kerry record on taxes is one basically of voting for a large number of tax increases -- 98 times in the United States Senate.

EDWARDS: John Kerry, Mr. Vice President, has voted or co-sponsored over 600 times tax cuts for the American people -- over 600 times.

At another point where the two connected, the tricks being played were easier to see:

EDWARDS: We're going to make sure that we tell the world the truth. Because the reality is, for America to lead, for America to do what it's done for 50 years before this president and vice president came into office, it is critical that we be credible.

It is critical that they believe that when America takes action, they can trust what we're doing, what we say, what we say at the United Nations, what we say in direct conversations with leaders of the world -- of other countries.

They need to know that the credibility of the United States is always good, because they will not follow us without that.

And unfortunately, we're seeing the consequences of that right now.

It's one of the reasons that we're having so much difficulty getting others involved in the effort in Iraq.

You know, we've taken 90 percent of the coalition causalities.

CHENEY: The 90 percent figure is just dead wrong. When you include the Iraqi security forces that have suffered casualties, as well as the allies, they've taken almost 50 percent of the casualties in operations in Iraq, which leaves the U.S. with 50 percent, not 90 percent.

EDWARDS: Regardless of what the vice president says, 90 percent of the coalition casualties, Mr. Vice President, the coalition casualties, are American casualties. It is the direct result of the failures of this administration.

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.

We'll win when they take on responsibility for governance, which they're doing, and when the take on responsibility for their own security, which they increasingly are doing.

Edwards hammered on the idea of truth repeatedly. But of course, in American politics, even he could hardly be expected to provide a straight answer to a straight question, when that question was:

Senator Edwards, you and Senator Kerry have said that the war in Iraq is the wrong war at the wrong time. Does that mean that if you had been president and vice president that Saddam Hussein would still be in power?

[Edited excerpts from http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2004b.html.]