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10.6.04 Edwards Wins on Points
Edwards' grade is A-minus. Cheney's grade is B-minus. I am a Democrat
and Kerry supporter, so their performance does not affect my vote. My
concern was how each man would advance the cause of their ticket. Since
my man is Edwards, I needed him to "float like a butterfly and sting
like a bee."
Edwards was in command of his facts and insisted on clarifying
misleading statements made by Cheney. The bee. He was able to attack
without losing his cool. And he weathered attacks with some grace --but
never turning the other cheek. The butterfly.
For Cheney to appeal beyond his Republican base, I expected him to
appear avuncular and ready with the kind of concrete plans that show
experience. If he is the policy brain behind Bush, then he should prove
it.
Cheney appeared to have more facts at hand than Bush did. However, he
has an unfortunate record of making half-truths and falsehoods sound
credible, so I don't know what to believe. I did hear some stump speech
factoids about Kerry's record that have already been disproved. He tried
to sound like the voice of experience but fell back on attacking Kerry's
record when cornered.
Overall, Edwards advanced the Democratic agenda, without scoring a
knock-out punch. Cheney got style points for being more detail-oriented
and serene than Bush, but did not adequately address his
administration's incompetence in pursuing the correct strategy against
terrorism.
[Published this morning in the
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. They left out a phrase in the last
paragraph: "than Bush."] |
mad
in pursuit: greed & arrogance