Edwards was in total control of Dick Cheney's emotions.

[AP]

Anyone notice?

Without being mean, he made Cheney angry. Without being nasty, he made Cheney sad. Without being confusing, he made Dick confused. Without being narcissistic, he made Cheney envious.

Cheney kept responding emotionally to Edwards's arguments and facts. And Edwards provoked in Cheney a broad range of emotions which ultimately told the story that Edwards was in control of himself (and of Cheney) while Cheney wasn't in control of anything.

It was very very interesting.

[grasswire]

1. I did notice a lot of...

...controlled emotions on Cheney's face.

[spooky3]

2. very good point

[snowbear]

3. yep..

He did tick him off.. But Cheney doesn't have as many smirks and dumbfounded "deer in the headlight" looks as his commander in thief.

[AP]

4. Cheney wasn't stupified, but he went through a range of emotions --

it was like a narrative arc, rather than a random display. When you watch the whole thing, you feel like Cheney is not in control of himself, while Edwards was remarkably consistent and strong and constant and in control.

[lanparty]

8. One thing DID make Cheney look bad ...

Cheney was constantly looking down (a sure sign of deceipt) instead of at eye level. At one point he actually buried his chin in his clenched fists and muffled his own Microphone. It really wasn't very becoming in my opinion.

Than again, I don't think people expect much from Dr Evil or VP candidates in general.

[MsUnderstood]

14. They way he kept shuffing his paper and pen

He would move the pen to the top of the page, move it to the bottom, square is pad of paper then do it all over again.

That was sure a distracting nervous tick.

John edwards, on the other hand, clasped his hands togother and focused on the words.

Oh and when Cheney's concluded his Gay marriage ban by simply thinking the senator for his kind words, that was the biggest moment of emotion for me--it was basically telling the world "I don't believe my president is right, but he comes before my family and it hurts."

[AP]

15. interesting.

[lanparty]

5. I don't think Cheney HAS emotions!!!!

I really don't think he has emotions. If he does, he hid them well.

Cheney is the eternal grump. And he was largely just repeating the same old spin points. The big difference is there was someone across the table to refute him.

A couple observations:
* Cheney brought up medical malpractice and Edwards (very predictably) bitch slapped him.
* Cheney brought up a tax loophole for lawyers. This AMAZED me given Halliburton's record on offshoring their profits. Predictably, Edwards bitchslapped him on this topic.
* Cheney kept repeating the "don't denigrate our allies" (Poland, Barbados, Hungary, etc..). I'm not sure how effective this is. But I will point out that I haven't heard "don't denigrate the guard" lately.
* Cheney accused John Kerry of cutting weapons systems. OK, at this point I started feeling that Cheney probably isn't a very smart man. The record is VERY clear, Cheney cut weapons systems like CRAZY during his tenure as Secretary of Defense.
* Cheney's ONLY defense for Halliburton scandals was an accusation of "Democrats trying to fog the landscape". After bringing up Halliburton doing business with Iran, Cheny had no response.


On substance, I think Edwards kicked Cheney's ass. Cheney had little but soundbites. Cheney's mannerisms were classic Cheney. While they're not as hypnotic as those of Rumsfeld, they do carry a certain false aura of authority and competence.

I'm not sure if this debate will have swayed undecideds one way or another. We'll have to wait for results from focus groups to get any idea.

What is very clear is that Cheney didn't demonstrate the emotional/personal breakdown like the Chimp did. And this MAYBE a VERY bad thing since Bush voters may perceive that Cheney is far more qualified to be President than Bush is. And it's NEVER a good idea for a VP to outshine his Presidential running mate!!!!

[ohioan]

16. I heard that in doing a decent job in the debate, Cheney actually HURT *

Because now Kerry, Edwards AND Cheney ALL look better than the guy who's supposed to be the top dog.

[JI7]

6. especially halliburton

someone said before the debate that one thing which gets to cheney is the halliburton attacks. so i was thinking that maybe cheney would practice not letting it get to him. but it was very noticeable that edwards got to him with that and many other areas.

that comment about how he had never met edwards until that debate was i believe an example of his emotion getting out of control.

i have been thinking how democratic talking points should be about cheney's emotions. his reactions. how he was angry and hateful.

[tjdee]

7. Edwards gutted him on the gay question, when he brought up his daughter.

That was obvious.

[Tatiana]

9. Excellent points, AP.

One thing that really struck me was when Edwards brought up Cheney's (lesbian) daughter. That was the ONE TIME during the entire debate that I saw an emotion other than disdain, anger, or arrogance. He loves his daughter, and I think I saw a bit of regret at the whoring he had to do. Cheney doesn't agree with the DOMA. But he's stuck supporting it because of the evangelical right-wing "base." His support of the gay-marriage ban rings hollow and there was yet another instance of Cheney lying to pander for more votes.

[Oak2004]

12. Yeah, that was tough on Cheney...

actually having to use his heart.

[AP]

13. If you play back the debate in slow motion, you can see the exact point at

which Dick Cheney's heart stops beating...

[cheshire]

10. Yep, now who's the puppet.

[AP]

11. Who's the muppet?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

17. YOu are correct and he was very metered

Misunderestimator and I were on the phone and I remarked that he backed off right on time so as to not appear to be beating up on an old man.