VP Debate (One & Only)

I just got back from Marymount Manhattan College where I watched the VP debate in the student union. Usually VP debates are more low-key, collegial even. This one was several degrees more antagonistic than that, but the sense of tension and gravity that attended upon last week's presidential debate wasn't there. Who won? I'd call it a draw. Tonight it was the CEO vs. the trial lawyer, and in both style and substance, the two mostly stayed in character.

Edwards smiled that big warm smile, made expansive gestures towards the camera—as if towards a jury—and used a lot of pathos. Cheney sat as if at the head of a boardroom table, gesturing close to his body, rubbing his hands together for most of the evening. When on the attack he peered over the top of his glasses sideways, drawing his mouth into a semi-snarl. His language was heavy with logos, and later ethos.

But it wasn't that simple. In fact, there were two moments when Cheney's humanity took center stage and there was a sort of air of deep "private man" pathos. One was when Edwards shamelessly mentioned that Cheney loved his gay daughter—an Oprah moment, only it was clear that the point was not pop therapy but politics. Cheney was given 30 seconds to respond, and all he did was thank the Senator for the kind remarks about his family. I don't know if we were supposed to read this laconic response as "can you, the public, believe that this asshole brought my daughter into this?!", or alternatively, as an expression of his refusal to repeat the Administration's talking points on an issue where he is clearly "taking one for the team." Or both.

The other moment came in response to the moderator's question about AIDS in America, which actually seemed to catch both candidates off guard. They clearly had been schooled on AIDS globally, not in the US, and at the end of his response, Cheney admitted that he didn't know about the disparity in AIDS rates between African-American women and their counterparts. Should he have known? Of course. But when the same question next went to Edwards, who had the benefit of an extra 90 seconds to prepare, he talked about the Kerry-Edwards healthcare plan again, barely mentioning AIDS, and when he did his language was so contorted that it sounded as if he were saying that "preventative medicine" could prevent AIDS. In other words, he didn't come off as someone sounding like he took AIDS seriously. Does he? Probably, but his adherence to his talking points hurt him. Cheney at least admitted ignorance, and showed a bit of shame for it.

Cheney, the CEO, is clearly the more commanding presence. He got more words in, and his arguments were more fully structured. He rarely stumbled and he moved from point to point rapidly, always seeming to know where the argument was leading. It wasn't that Edwards didn't make arguments—it's just that they were top-heavy with big splashy claims. It wasn't that he didn't support those claims, but not in the workmanlike way that his opponent did. Nevertheless, Edwards, the trial lawyer, is undoubtedly the warmer human being, and he came across as the one who fights for the little guy.

This is the only VP debate so I will not conclude by offering advice to the debaters; I'll just summarize. Neither debater ever had his opponent on the ropes; both seemed more willing to score small points with ad hominem arguments, trading jabs about such things as skipped meetings and decades-old Congressional voting records. Edwards followed up on Kerry's successful defense against the charge of flip-floppery, and doubtless foreshadowed how Kerry will handle domestic policy questions in the next presidential debate. At times, however, Edwards didn't seem as focused as Cheney, and a bit boyish by contrast. Cheney was competent and sharp, but couldn't conceal an abiding mean-spiritedness. At moments he showed something like genuine humanity—would have helped if there had been more of those moments. Finally, Cheney made the smarter arguments for the war that Bush should have made last week against Kerry. Too bad for Bush that Cheney wasn't speaking into that little earpiece that Bush might have been wearing.