VP Debate

[tahnan]

By and large, though I'm only half-listening, I feel as if Cheney is getting the upper hand here. In part, one must admit, because he's being a jerk: but he's being an effective jerk, saying things like "It's hard to know where to start, Gwen, because what the senator just said has so many inaccuracies."

I can't fault him for the rhetoric. I wish Edwards would call him on it. What actively, actively pisses me off is when Cheney outright lies, by saying that the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ordered the legislature to pass an amendment legalizing gay marriage.

No. No, no, no; false, false false. The SJC said that gay marriage was already legal, and told the legislature to pass an amendment banning gay marriage, if they wanted it to be illegal. Cheney makes it sound as if gay marriage is legal in MA because the SJC told the legislature to make it so, when the complete opposite is in fact the case.

And Edwards, of course, doesn't call him on it. That also pisses me off. I suppose he only has so much time, but perhaps he could have spent a little less on the previous question and on how much Cheney loves his daughter.

Comments

[jordanwillow.livejournal.com]

I think Edwards has been calling him on it. I actually feel like he's holding his own pretty well. Don't lose hope.

[navrins]

I only watched the first few minutes, and got thoroughly sick of Cheney's blatant lies and Edwards's broken-record-ness.

I suppose I ought to watch the rest at some point. (It's TiVoed.)

[jordanwillow.livejournal.com]

the broken-record-ness dropped, to a certain extent at least, after the first few minutes. the blatant lies didn't.

[libermentis.livejournal.com]

Yeah - it seems that the first, say, quarter of the "debate" was really slated as a restatement of the presidential debate. Edwards' hands were tied as to what he was to say and how he was to say it, and his delivery style suffered. When it got to be more free-form, and they moved on to topics that lie close to his heart, he improved hugely.

And I think that the fact that it's being called a tie is actually a small victory. Anyone who can stand up to the slimy forensic tactics of Cheney and not get smeared all over the wall, while not sinking to his level of ad hominem attacks instead of issue-centered exchanges, is doing pretty darn well.

I'm in the final negotiation phase of getting a local karaoke place to let me take over for a night and do a Kerry-oke fundraiser. Thanks for the idea; let's hope it flies here!