Analysis: US candidates in TV debates:
Iraq played a dominant role in the debate between Vice-President Dick
Cheney and John Kerry's running mate John Edwards.
The vice-president stuck to the Bush-Cheney line that Iraq was integral to the war on terror. John Edwards kept to the Kerry-Edwards line that Iraq was a diversion and that the real focus should have remained on Afghanistan and the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. He relentlessly pursued the attack that the Bush administration has not been straight with the American people. And just as in the presidential debate last week, the running mates disagreed on whether progress was being made in Iraq. John Edwards argued that if progress was being made in Iraq, it was not enough and that America was bearing too much of the cost of the war. Both candidates had their strengths. On foreign policy, the vice-president certainly came across as having a better grasp of the facts, the policies and the issues. But when it came to domestic issues, that was when John Edwards came more into his own. Dick Cheney admitted to not knowing the extent of the problem of Aids in the African-American community. Obvious anger: There was no love lost between the two men. Dick Cheney was able to land a number of personal blows against John Edwards.
Cheney
probably helped stabilise polls that were swinging to Kerry.And there was obvious anger from both men at times. In the end, Dick Cheney certainly helped his ticket. He delivered the red meat that George Bush, frankly, failed to deliver to his base in last week's debate. After last week's debate, even Republicans were admitting their man probably lost the debate and was not at the top of his game. But both camps probably came away from this debate feeling that their man won. Mr Cheney's line - that if John Kerry and John Edwards cannot stand up to Howard Dean, who once led Mr Kerry in the race to be Democrat nominee - how are they going to stand up to al-Qaeda? - will undoubtedly be replayed over the coming days. One of the instant polls edges it to Mr Cheney, and he probably did his side a little more good. After Mr Kerry's strong showing last week, the momentum had slightly moved to him. Mr Cheney probably turned in a strong enough performance to stabilise the polls for the next few days. But just as importantly as Mr Cheney's solid performance, Mr Edwards was able to make one or two points on key domestic issues that may appeal to undecided voters or soft Bush supporters. Americans are concerned about Iraq and the war on terrorism, but they do have an appetite to hear how the candidates will deal with healthcare, jobs, the economy and poverty. John Edwards probably scored some points with voters whose focus is more on these domestic issues, and these voters will now be primed to listen to John Kerry in the debate on Friday. It raises the stakes for that contest. Mr Cheney might have stopped the slight shift in momentum to John Kerry, but the onus now goes back on to George Bush to turn in a stronger performance than he did last week. He needs to give Republicans a little red meat, lay out a clear domestic agenda and make them proud that he is their candidate again.
A slip of the tongue by Dick Cheney has given a boost to anti-Bush campaigners.
During a televised debate Mr Cheney told viewers to visit factcheck.com when answering accusations by vice presidential nominee John Edwards. But rather than being the address of a project to check the facts politicians use, the site merely hosts adverts. Soon after being mentioned, it began redirecting visitors to the website of billionaire George Soros, who is very critical of the Bush administration. The opening page of the Soros website displays a banner headline reading: "President Bush is endangering our safety, hurting our vital interests and undermining American values." Mr Cheney's slip was caused by him wrongly recalling the web address of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Center which lives at factcheck.org. The vice president mentioned Factcheck.com when Mr Edwards tackled him about his time as chief executive of oil services firm Halliburton, which has won a lot of government work in Iraq. Defending himself Mr Cheney said his opponent was using Halliburton as a smokescreen and anyone wanting the proper facts should look on the web. More than 44 million people watched the televised debate between Mr Cheney and Mr Edwards. Reports suggest that thousands turned to the web to find out for themselves. As traffic to the Factcheck.com ad site mushroomed, its owners decided to re-direct people to Georgesoros.com. "This was to relieve stress on the service and to express a political point of view," said a spokesman for Factcheck.com. At the busiest times more than 100 people per second were visiting Factcheck.com. Soon after the re-directing started, Mr Soros' site posted a notice explaining that it did not own the Factcheck.com website and was not responsible for the diversion. Mr Cheney could not even win support from the Factcheck.org website. In a statement the site's editors said the vice president "wrongly implied that we had rebutted allegations Edwards was making about what Cheney had done as chief executive officer of Halliburton." "In fact we did post an article pointing out that Cheney hasn't profited personally while in office from Halliburton's Iraq contracts, as falsely implied by a Kerry TV ad," the statement said. It concluded: "Edwards was talking about Cheney's responsibility for earlier Halliburton troubles. And in fact, Edwards was mostly right."