I saw a look of resignation in the face of Cheney tonight

[Ishoutandscream]

No matter what Tweety and Murdering Joe may say, Edwards did a fine job tonight. Cheney could not respond to several of the charges Edwards made. It became so cumbersome for Dick that it came down to "where do I begin" and his refusal to elaborate when given the opportunity.

Cheney KNOWS he and * don't have a good record to run on. He can only lie for so long, but 90 minutes of it simply wore him out.

* and Dick - you've got NOTHING. Your talking points are falling on deaf ears. The lying and catch phrases don't work anymore. Both your sorry asses will be leaving Washington on January 20th.

[Jade Fox]

1. Yep, he looked tired, resigned, and sick of the whole thing by the end...

I think he secretly hopes they lose, just like his "Boss".

[Jokinomx]

3. I think he looks that way all the time. Nothing new... did he win the

debate.... Cheney did better than his boss...but Edwards didn't lose any ground for Kerry. They both did what they had to do... it just it is very hard work for handlers to make Cheney look presentable.

:dem:

[Jade Fox]

5. He looked surprisingly lively during his speech at the RNC. Not tonight.

[Carla in Ca]

16. I agree, he looked tired towards the end

He slouched and covered his mic for a few seconds. He's done.

[sugargoose]

10. Maybe you're right

I hadn't thought of that, but I guess if I were in their shoes and realized everything I touched turned to failure, I'd sure want to bail out and leave someone else to clean it up.

[Skip Intro]

2. Yes, I did too!

cheney came out at first with his schtick that's worked for him for way too long, and that lasted a little while

but he wasn't the same after the "gay" question. He passed on a chance to respond to Edwards' criticisms. At least twice.

It was almost as if he conceded to Edwards.

I don't know what's up with these "duers" saying it was close or that cheney won. cheney didn't just lose, he was gutted.

maybe he has a conscience after all? although, that's not a saving grace for a greedy mass-murderer.

America deserves better.

[snowbear]

4. cheney

Cheney is a tired old codger who needs to retire. x(

[PSU84]

6. Cheney looks like death on steroids.

And his voice has a hoarse wheeziness like the wind in a graveyard.

[leftofthedial]

7. an hour in, Cheney was whipped

he had no meaningful response to any domestic issue other than the gay marriage thing (and that because of his daughter).

he had no meaningful response to the halliburton charges or to the repeated convincing case Edwards made about the bushgang's bungling in Iraq.

None of Cheney's charges against Edwards or Kerry stuck. No one (even Cheney himself) believes the "flip-flop" crap anymore. At best it's a case of pot-kettle-black, at worst a gross distortion.

Watching it, I thought "tie" (which meant a tactical win for Kerry-Edwards) until the questions about healthcare and jobs when Cheney knew he was fucked since the bushgang have to run from, not on their record. At that point, he realized Edwards had successfully parried the entire Iraq-security issue and then kicked his ass on domestic topics.

Final score: 78-22 Edwards.

[Ishoutandscream]

8. Yep. John wore him down

Can you imagine if the two would have stood during the entire debate? Well, it would never have lasted 90 minutes.

[leftofthedial]

12. we could have seen a demonstration of a doctor taking a malpractice risk

if Cheney had to stand even for 15 minutes.

An ambulance is part of every Cheney motorcade.

[ReadTomPaine]

9. Oddly laconic in the second half.. thoughtful like he was distracted

Did Edwards comments about his daughter effect him in some fashion? Did his heart trouble wind him early? Something was off with Cheney in the debate's latter half.

RTP.

[Eye and Monkey]

11. not thoughtful, tired and bored

I listened on the radio. You could tell he was worn-down and bored. He's probably the same in meetings. It's a different version of the same thing Chimpie went through - a "why do I have to deal with this" -kinda thing.

In a negotiation of equals, Cheney couldn't hold up for more than an hour or so. They don't just stack the deck to make it easier, they stack the deck because they have to. Cheney lies because he has to, because he's not clever enough to NOT lie.

[leftofthedial]

13. it's either lie

or tell the truth and admit to being a treasonous war criminal

[Doohickie]

14. He decided then and there

when the subject of his daughter came up, that he is sick and tired of working for * and started daydreaming about dove hunting in Texas in the near future.... no more security briefings.... no more covering *'s ass.... aaaaaahhhhh!!!!!

[Wapsie B]

15. Remember now,

this is a guy who's ticker ain't for shit. Sooner or later all the modern medicine in the world won't be able to save him. That condition has got to take a toll on his demeanor and his outward projection to others.

[Justice]

17. I watched Cheney's face when Edwards spoke and

completely agree with you. Resignation is the right word.

[Awsi Dooger]

18. Most accurate thread I've seen, Cheney limped home the final 45 minutes

I had 11 people at my Las Vegas home and everyone agreed Cheney lost considerable steam and focus, even the 4 who thought he won. I think Cheney expected Edwards to back down a la Lieberman and was stunned when Edwards actually fired back with even more fury.

The final 20 minutes Cheney was barely audible while Edwards had a near permanent grin, a grin of success. During the final statement Edwards basically said, "Thanks for coming, Dick" while Cheney tellingly did not mention Edwards at all. And at debate's end Edwards sprung to his feet with a huge smile while Cheney sat there almost in concession he had been bested.

I'm amazed at the threads implying Edwards missed opportunities to attack. He successfully hit the main talking points over and over, even injecting important items like health care. Several times Edwards effectively retreated to a previous topic to nullify a Cheney lie. The key is swing voters and I guarantee Edwards scored more than Cheney with that group. The women in my home are typical of an apolitical swing voter and most of them did not think the debate was even close.