I was one of those people who thought Bush eked out a win
on Thursday night, so what do I know. But I thought this one was a draw, and
that because of that, it was good for the Kerry-Edwards camp. I think their
new meme — that Bush cannot be trusted to be honest and straightforward
about Iraq — is a powerful one, one that more people intuitively feel with
each news cycle. And I think Cheney missed several golden opportunities to
attack Edwards, most noticeably on the “heartbeat away” question, when
Cheney ought to have hammered home the idea that this perilous moment in
world history is no time to have a man as inexperienced as Edwards as veep.
If Cheney had done a Bentsen k.o. of Quayle tonight, I’d be feeling better.
Edwards didn’t win, but he held his own for his team. I still think they
retain almost all of the momentum they got from last week’s Bush-Kerry
contest.