CLEVELAND -Vice President Cheney and Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., clashed in a debate about foreign and domestic issues that remained civil but included some pointed exchanges between the two candidates.
Cheney sought to portray Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry as indecisive and weak on defense and Edwards as a political novice who does not possess a complete grasp of the issues in this election.
Edwards said President Bush and Cheney are out of touch with reality in handling the war on terror and the war in Iraq, leading to a more dangerous world. Edwards also harped on Cheney's record as CEO of Halliburton, likening the vice president to Ken Lay, the disgraced CEO of Enron, and accusing him of favoring doing business with terrorists during his tenure there.
Cheney said his time with Halliburton was being used as a smokescreen to distract from the real issues in the campaign.
Questions about the war in Iraq dominated early in the debate, as Cheney reiterated the administration's position that Saddam Hussein posed a potential threat as a state sponsor of terrorists and needed to be deposed.
Edwards accused Cheney of not being straight with the American people
and he seized on comments made Monday by the former U.S. head official in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, who said the United States did not commit enough troops to fight the war.
Cheney also accused Kerry of bowing to political pressure from then-presidential candidate Howard Dean when he voted against the $87 billion funding for the Iraq war.
Now if they couldn't stand up to the pressures that Howard Dean represented how can we expect them to stand up to al-Qaeda? he asked.
Edwards said his and Kerry's votes against the appropriation were made to protest the situation they saw in Iraq at the time and to demand more accountability in the appropriation of the funds.
It was clear at the time of that vote that they had no plan to win the peace Edwards said. We're seeing the consequences of that everyday on the ground right now.
On the domestic front, Cheney defended the administration's record, touting the No Child Left Behind Act, Medicare reform and the president's tax cuts.
Edwards said the No Child Left Behind Act was not adequately funded and accused the administration's tax cuts of favoring the wealthy. He also said the administration was responsible for rising Medicare costs.
After the debate, Democrat and Republican officials said their candidate won the debate and expressed optimism for the remaining 27 days until the election.
They hired the best lawyer in America to be their vice presidential nominee
and even he couldn't defend the Kerry record
Bush strategist Ken Mehlman said.
Democrats saw a different result and hope Edwards will keep the momentum continuing from last week's presidential debate.
He just knocked it out of the park as it relates to the domestic agenda. I mean
Dick Cheney's head was spinning
Democratic Chairman Terry McAuliffe said. He had the facts on his side
and Dick Cheney didn't have the facts.
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