(no subject)

[xiphias]

Honestly, if I was going to choose a "winner" of the VP debate, I'd probably choose Cheney.

Seriously.

The thing here, though, is, this isn't a debate. Both people get a chance to talk about stuff.

That's a good thing, frankly. I think that, in general, Edwards is doing a better job of answering questions in such a way that will shift undecided voters to his ticket. Slightly. But, the thing is, Cheney's coming across as downright likable. At least, compared to how I percieved him previously.

Not gonna change my vote, of course. I like the Kerry/Edwards ticket, I like what they stand for. But I think Cheney is coming across much better than I thought he would, and Edwards isn't quite as pulled together as I hoped.

So, I dunno. Who will this help more? Dunno. In some ways, seeing how much better Cheney is doing than Bush did, I don't think that's really all that good for the Republican ticket. . .

Comments

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Cheney is definitely better at this than Edwards.

Which annoys me, but I take comfort in the fact that people base their votes on the president, not the vice president.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

yeah, I'd call it for Cheney, although I'm hoping the news calls it a draw.

He's got decades of experience; he can stick to a line and make it sound plausible, even though it's a flat lie. Edwards got a little rattled, and spent too much time reciting talking points.

still, even if Cheney'd win if it were a question of him vs. Edwards, he can't prop up Bush, so it hardly matters.

[querldox.livejournal.com]

Yep, in the parts I saw Cheney had Edwards on the defensive most of the time (with Edwards doing a Bush-lite in seemingly repeating the same talking points more than necessary). Cheney also came across as experienced and authoritative (such that he would've crushed Bush in a debate) while Edwards just seemed a bit swarmy.

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

I thought Cheney came across as boring and obnoxious. Yes, he sometimes expressed himself better than Edwards did, but that snarl of his is so off-putting it's hard to ignore. I thought Edwards did a very good job, really. Gwen Ifill was terrible as moderator--what was telling them not to mention the other member of their ticket all about? I thought Edwards did a very good job trying to talk about actual issues, rather than the idiotic questions he was being asked.

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

From what I've seen, Darth Dick is really great at presenting a charming friendly face. I've seen him speak once and he was funny and personable, with a strong dose of positive alpha male thrown in to boot. When you see him speak, it's hard to believe he's evil. Which is what I was afraid I would end up seeing in this debate. Which I still have to watch on TiVo, as I was playing X-bugz.

[brooksmoses]

I was talking about this with suzimoses on the way home from watching the debate at a friend's house.

Cheney ... I think he came off as extremely competent, and possibly likable just on account of that (and on account of coming across as showing his true self), but I really don't want him running my country, because I never got a sense that he'd do anything in my interest without being pushed into needing to.

Meanwhile, I thought his command of numbers and data was a virtuoso performance. When numbers came up, he was able to list off small handfuls of facts in a manner that made it clear they were part of a big pile of things, not just "lookit this important number I memorized".

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Thing is, apparently a number of the numbers he gave were, how you say, lies inaccurate. Pity, I'd love to hear some real numbers from the current White House people.

[jehanna.livejournal.com]

FWIW, my dad (who watched this debate, unlike me) says that he thinks Cheney is one of the most boring speakers ever.

The papers down here seem to think that both candidates were off-putting in different ways. Bit of a wash.

[sethg]

CBS's post-debate poll of undecided voters had 49% improving their opinion of Edwards and only 32% improving their opinion of Cheney--so by the only metric that I care about, Edwards is more likely than not to have won the debate. (The poll has a seven-point margin of error, so I can't say that Edwards definitely won.) I don't know why the numbers broke down that way; Cheney certainly got some good shots in. Maybe American voters just don't like politicians who snarl.

Maybe we can add a Kerry-Cheney debate to the schedule. Show it on Pay-Per-View.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I think that I have a less negative view of Cheney because I heard it on the radio instead of seeing it on TV.

[deerdancer22.livejournal.com]

I was at the Tracy Chapman, REM, Bruce and E st. band vote for change concert that night. I wrote it up for all of you and about all the election stuff going on down there!!
Jillaurie