Republican Vice President Dick Cheney and Democratic Sen. John
Edwards traded sharp jabs during the first and only
vice-presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday.
Cheney and Edwards fought fiercely over issues ranging from the
war in Iraq to Medicare, and traded personal attacks on each other
and their running-mates.
The most contentious issues involved the U.S. response to
terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Edwards said the U.S. move to invade Iraq was wrong, as it
diverted troops away from Afghanistan.
“There is no connection between the attacks of Sept. 11
and Saddam Hussein. You have gone around the country suggesting
there is some connection. There is not,” Edwards said.
Cheney countered by defending the administration’s
decision to invade Iraq.
“After 9-11 it became clear that we had to go after the
terrorists wherever we might find them, as well as the state
sponsors of terror,” Cheney said.
“What we did in Iraq was exactly the right thing to
do,” he said.
Edwards not only attacked the decision to invade Iraq but also
how the war has been handled.
“They sent 40,000 troops into Iraq without the body armor
they needed,” Edwards said.
Cheney countered with the flip-flop label Republicans have
attempted to pin on John Kerry. He said that Kerry was for the war
when it was good politically, and against the war when it was bad
politically.
There was inconsistency in Cheney’s assertion that Kerry
is a flip-flopper. At one point in the debate, Cheney said Kerry
“has consistently come down on the wrong side of all major
defense issues since he was elected to the Senate.”
The statement was contradictory to Cheney’s other
statements that Kerry changes his positions on defense issues.
By most accounts the debate was pretty even, far more so than
the lopsided presidential debate last week, and no clear winner
could be seen.
David Karol, an acting assistant professor of political science
at UC Berkeley, said one of the best aspects of the debate was that
both of the vice presidential candidates were “more
impressive than their respective ticket-mates,” and that the
“number two’s were possibly out-shining (the) number
one’s.”
Henry Brady, a professor of political science and public policy
at UC Berkeley, said though the debate was very even, Edwards had
an edge because he performed well despite the fact that no one knew
what to expect.
Brady also said Cheney’s strong performance could hurt
Bush because it might remind people that Cheney knows more about
what is going on than the president.
Both candidates used the debate platform to perform damage
control from last week’s debate.
One of the questions was about Kerry’s mentioning of a
“global test” when determining whether to go to
war.
Edwards clarified Kerry’s position, saying that John Kerry
will not give control over America’s security to any other
country.
Of the domestic issues discussed, gay marriage became a hot
topic.
Edwards explained that he and Kerry are for full benefits for
gay couples while being against gay marriage, and charged that the
president has used the issue for political purposes.
Cheney, who has an openly homosexual daughter, appeared to be
uncomfortable during the questioning and explained that his
personal views and the administrations views did not coincide.
Cheney and Edwards also leveled numerous personal attacks.
Cheney brought up the fact that Edwards was a former trial
lawyer and has had a short senatorial career as he called into
question his experience.
Edwards was quick to respond, saying that a long resumé is
not equal to good judgment and that the administration has made
serious misjudgments about foreign policy.
“Mr. Vice President, I don’t think this country can
take four more years of this kind of experience,” Edwards
said.
Edwards also engaged in personal attacks, as he mentioned
Halliburton’s no-bid contracts in Iraq. Cheney was the former
CEO of Halliburtion during the previous decade.
As in most debates, Brady said both Cheney and Edwards
manipulated the facts to support their positions. “Cheney and
Edwards did have a lot of different interpretations of the
facts,” Brady said.
Though the importance of the debate has increased because of the
closely divided electorate, Karol said the debate is unlikely to
change any minds because undecided and independent voters probably
weren’t paying much attention.