I'm calling this one for Cheney. I give him the edge over Edwards 55 to 45. Edwards did hold his own. He didn't fumble any of his answers and he seemed competent. I thought he overdid it with the "mislead" and "distortion" comments. He was okay with that stuff for about 30 minutes. Then I thought he was just being a punk. He sat up straight and tall, and the way he took notes seemed very much like a trial lawyer (a compliment). He never really looked upset or taken aback, but his closed eye reactions seemed snooty to me. He also seemed to side-step more questions than Cheney did and he would use his time for another question to rebut something from a previous question, which seemed like sour grapes. But again, it was not a big deal. I thought his few moments of laughter seemed to loosen him up and make him more personable. And speaking of sticking your tongue out, Edwards took a drink of coffee and it must have been bitter or something, cause he definitely stuck his tongue out. If you can catch that one, Bryan, I'm sure it will be a good one.
Cheney did seem a little nervous to me. I was slightly annoyed at his lapel microphone constantly rubbing against his jacket because he kept leaning forward a little. He also muffled his mic a few times when he put his hands under his chin. Those are very minor annoyances, though. Cheney had the most memorable lines and he had the advantage with the zingers. His grasp of the issues and details were impressive. I think he was the most genuine, too. He used good judgment in answering his questions and in a couple of cases, not answering. The best description of the debate I heard was that Edwards looked and acted like a lawyer, and Cheney looked and acted like a judge.
