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Having failed to make a dent in the first Presidential debate, John Kerry's latest hope for closing the gap fell on the shoulders of boy wonder John Edwards. Unfortunately for John Edwards, he was greeted by a man who while serving in the Whitehouse, spent more time in the Senate than Edwards.
The crushing blow came when Vice President Cheney nailed the absentee Senator with this line...
CHENEY: And Senator, frankly, you have a record in the Senate that's not very distinguished. You've missed 33 out of 36 meetings in the Judiciary Committee, almost 70 percent of the meetings of the Intelligence Committee.
You've missed a lot of key votes: on tax policy, on energy, on Medicare reform.
Your hometown newspaper has taken to calling you "Senator Gone." You've got one of the worst attendance records in the United States Senate.
Now, in my capacity as vice president, I am the president of Senate, the presiding officer. I'm up in the Senate most Tuesdays when they're in session.
The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight.
But this exchange between the two pointed out the clear differences between the two sides.
CHENEY: They're doing a superb job. And for you to demean their sacrifices strikes me as...
EDWARDS: Oh, I'm not...
CHENEY: ... as beyond...
EDWARDS: I'm not demeaning...
CHENEY: It is indeed. You suggested...
EDWARDS: No, sir, I did not...
CHENEY: ... somehow they shouldn't count, because you want to be able to say that the Americans are taking 90 percent of the sacrifice. You cannot succeed in this effort if you're not willing to recognize the enormous contribution the Iraqis are increasingly making to their own future.
Edwards looked like a juvenile on a stage for men. His "cuteness" quickly wore off and exhibits Kerry's inability to select a presidential cabinet to deal with the war on terrorism. If John Kerry cannot make a better Veep choice than John Edwards then why on earth do we believe he'll be effective on terrorism, in global affairs, or dealing with congress?
Perhaps Dick Cheney looked more presidential than all of them. Maybe it was Dick Cheney who should be headlining the tour, sitting nose to nose with the other absentee Senator. After watching Dick Cheney sit at that table, ripping the other guy to shred, I am glad that George W. Bush is our president. We know Dick Cheney knows what's going on, we know that both Senators are too busy vacationing to know what's going on.
The poll numbers won't change much, but I got a sense of security with Dick Cheney in the Whitehouse. I'm sure the American public got much of the same sense.
