I will start this thread by saying I’ve only watched tidbits of tonight’s debate. However, I just looked at msn.com and Edwards gets the nod by 78% to 22% as of 9:45pm CST. Wow. My interpretaion of the debate initially was that someone really needed to check Cheney for a pulse, but other than that I don’t have much to add on the content of the debate versus the form. I’d appreciate feedback from Dopers who are watching this debate with more attention.
Poll: Cheney or Edwards?
Neither. Twas a silly debate without a point.
Still, Edwards has that kind of a lead? Are they judging on looks?
Internet polls are infallible, young grasshopper. You may safely place your full and unwaivering faith in internet polls.
Heh. Maybe age instead? I just saw Peter Jennings quoting a poll that had Cheney ahead by something like 43% to 37%, so go figure. It’s amazing that the on-line polls are so different from the call-in polls conducted by the major networks. I don’t trust either one given that fake “metrosexual” quote attributed to Kerry last week by foxnews.com. Interesting enough, that media source doesn’t offer a voting option.
Thanks to the Freepers/DU’ers, internet polls are worth even less than ‘normal’ polls, which ain’t worth all that much. (Of course I would never denegrate SDMB polls!)
I missed the first part of the debate because I was losing my radio signal. Got home about ten minutes into it.
I thought it was annoying the way Edwards kept going back to the previous question, and then spending most of his time commenting on it instead of the current question. He seemed to do it more than Dr. Evil. I mean Cheney.
Dr. Ev… Cheney seemed to be talking to the desk. Bad form.
Edwards looked “prissy” when he was listening to Cheney. I don’t mean that in a “gay” way, but just that he looked… “exaggeratedly proper”.
When Cheney was given an opportunity to respond to Edwards’s remarks on gay marriage, he said he thanked Edwards for his kind comments about his family. That’s it. I thought it was a classy move. On the other hand, I thought a moment later, he may have answered that way because his answer might have put him in the dog house with his boss or with his family depending on how he answered.
Edwards said that he and Kerry both believe that marriage is “between an man and a woman”, though they both support equivalent rights for gays like the ones straight couples have. As a straight male, I don’t see what the big deal is. Allowing gay marriage isn’t going to turn me into a homosexual. What do I care if two men or two women are married together? It’s right that they have the same legal and property rights as straights, and I don’t see the problem with having an official piece of paper making it “official”.
The poll results from the GeoBill household are 100% Cheney slapped Edwards around like a red-headed stepchild (apologies to all red-headed stepchildren, it is a figure of speech) and 0% for Edwards, who sounded much like he didn’t have an original thought in his head.
And we support the Kerry-Edwards team.
That poll hasta be skewed. I’m a Kerry supporter, and I think this debate is basically a wash. If anything, I think Cheney came off better. That poll is just an easily skewed internet survey, as Brutus pointed out.
That said, the one thing that really got a rise out of me was when Cheney pulled the “you don’t care about the Iraqi deaths because you said ‘coalition casualties’! Neener neener!”.
That was fucking lame.
Very interesting point. it’s extremely annoying that Cheney says he stands by his President while personally opposing his views. This is not to say the President and VP should get along on every issue, but gays rights? Bush might just be the most homophobic President we’ve had to date. And, the concept of gays having the ability to marry is way down there on the list of what I consider threats to the U.S.A. If Cheney wants to go out on a limb and oppose Bush on this subject, then he should just do it. (Like that’s gonna happen.)
msn: 70% Edwards 
Eh. I take back all the nice things I’ve said about Edwards. I loathed him in this debate and, appallingly, found myself liking Cheney more than Edwards. Cheney came across as more thoughtful, more serious, even, bizarrely, more compassionate.
Still and all, I’m not voting based on personalities, or on soundbites. I’m voting on issues, and Edwards/Kerry are the lesser of two evils.
Daniel
wearing a clothespin to the voting booth
Now now, LHoD, let’s not get carried away. 
While I wasn’t happy with how Edwards responded to some of the questions, he said nothing (IMO) that brought my image of him down, in any way.
LilShieste
His disgusting pandering on the “marriage is between a man and a woman” schtick. His dedication to the script. His unwillingness to address questions forthrightly. It all pissed me off.
I still hope he wins, because I know that Cheney is a far less ethical human being. But he’s got a lot of work to do if he wants my vote in future elections.
Daniel
To me, the most interesting moment came at Cheney’s (paraphrasing)“I’ve been presiding over the Senate for four years, and this is the first time I’ve met you,” line. Decent line, but I thought it opened him up for a devastating comeback (that didn’t occur): “The Vice-President has not met with me, and is willing to say so for the record. We should not read too much into this, as I’m only a junior Senator and not an anonymous oil company executive seeking to set the nation’s energy policy. Were that the case, the reverse would be true. I would have spent much time with Mr. Cheney, and he would not be admitting it.”
That’s a very acute observation, and reminds me of a couple of snide comments I heard Cheney make (again, I apologize for not seeing the entire debate, I have small children who weren’t really interested in the show). At one point, I heard Cheney discuss a bill he had endorsed, and he looked at Edwards and said something to the effect of “I don’t believe you were there to vote on that.”
Is it time for the Democrats to take the gloves off or what?
Boring. Incredibly boring. I was hoping that Cheney would at least drop one F-bomb, or something.
Maybe. I happen to think the “you weren’t there for that vote” trope, as long as it’s true, is perfectly legitimate. And I don’t think you can really lose points by being mean to Cheney. But I doubt if Edwards can do it effectively. Only the knight who is pure of heart can slay the dragon, and I think persistence and doggedly clinging to the truth is the image the Democrats want him to project.
At the same time, I don’t think Cheney can lose much by applying the heat to Edwards, either. To many voters, he’s the kid, and fair or not, they’re interested in seeing how he takes it. Essentially, the only way the debate can be anything but a draw is for one to goad the other into a tantrum or into saying something so laughably untrue that it makes headlines.
Whenever I see a pundit or official of either party interviewed about the debate it reminds me of the scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off:
Principal Rooney: What’s the score?
Chicago pizza joint owner: Nothin’ nothin’.
Rooney: (not listening) Who’s winning?
Chicago pizza joint owner: Thuh Bears.
So it it did 
Here’s a picture of Cheney and Edwards together at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2001.
I guess that religious mumbo-jumbo doesn’t stick with Mr. Cheney. Either that or he just added to his lie count for the evening.
Well, let’s be fair. Words mean different things to different people. Perhaps for someone with Mr. Cheney’s background, it doesn’t count as a “meeting” unless money changes hands.
And you’re comparing this to which administrations?