What Cheney will try to do tomorrow

[npincus]

all-out warfare on John Kerry's character to drive down Kerry's likeablity and trustworthiness perecntages shown to be greatly improved by Thursday's debate. He will probably use the word 'flipflop' more than a dozen times and do everything reinforce what has been their most successful line of attack to stop any momentum in our direction. I think he will talk right over Edwards and beat on Kerry like a drum, relentlessly.

Edwards is deft- I hope he picks up where Kerry left off and keeps THEM on the defensive where we finally have got them. I hope he spends LESS time dissecting Cheney (the electorale already doesn't like him) and makes the case that Bush is the REAL Flip-flopper.

Those are my 2 cents!

[molly]

1. I am not concerned about Edwards

AT ALL - he will pound the crap out of the evil one just as Kerry did.

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. ...and then the RW will try and try to spin it that Edwards is a trial

lawyer and it's "just not fair!!!!" Poor little Cheney. ;)

[Atman]

6. Edwards is handsome and likeable, Cheney is...

...anything but. Cheney is a scary, angry old man without the capacity to play fair. It will come across in the debate. Cheney will not be able to hold back his disgust and derision. He will be a mean bossy schoolboy calling names, and Edwards would do well to stay away from that line, and throw the "flip flop" bullshit right back in Cheney's sour puss. It is FACT, Edwards won't need to fudge the truth or make shit up like the Bush people do. That is our strongest angle. Let Cheney hang himself with his own nastiness and anger.

[Strawman]

3. We've got George Bailey, they've got Mr. Potter

I like our chances of coming off looking very good Tuesday night.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. Edwards need to show the country what a fear monger

Cheney is. That is all Cheney knows at this point. In Cheney's world, everyone is evil, out to get us, just waiting for the next terrorist attack. The only solution to every problem is a military one. Attack, bomb, destroy and crush our enemies, that's all Cheney knows. While in the meantime him and his friends stuff their greedy pockets with the loot.

The contrast between the two is going to be more important than the content. Who do you want to vote for, an psychotic, desperate old man or a young, exciting, intelligent man with a positive vision for the future? The answer is a no brainer.

[H2O Man]

5. Cheney is not a gifted debator.

His strenth is one-on-one meetings behind closed doors, and small informal staff meetings. He has been in virtual isolation from the press & public for the past three and a half years.So it'll be interesting to see how he handles the pressure.

The only real debate we have to measure him on was the 2000 VP love-fest with Joe Lieberman. Cheney was able to control the pace, and got Joe to try to "out-polite" Cheney. The fact that Cheney controlled the entire conversation was the only thing that stood out.

This VP debate, the republicans are hoping that Cheney can do to Edwards about what Lloyd Benston did to Danny Quayle in '88. The high-point of that debate, of course, was the "you are no John Kennedy" line. (Try to remember a single line from the 2000 VP debate?) But Cheney isn't Benston, and Edwards is sure as hell no Dan Quayle.

Edwards will go straight at Cheney, in the style that he was so successful with as a trial attorney. Cheney doesn't merely represent what is evil about some big business -- he is the most evil thing about the most evil of big business, Halliburton. It will be a devastating display, and will result in the republicans trying to pull Bush out of the next debate.

[Beetwasher]

39. "One-On-One Meetings Behind Closed Doors"

Yup. That's the ONLY way Cheney can effectively do business. A public debate is not the place to make not-so-veiled threats against your opponents families if they don't tow the line.

[Dob Bole]

7. Bummer that Bush and Cheney are having to debate lawyers...

"When does the butt-kicking stop?" they must be wondering...

[npincus]

8. Dob Bole, I've been meaning to ask you...

when is your wife, Delizabeth, going to have that sour lemon removed from her ass?

[Dob Bole]

18. um...

I do not put sour lemons in people's asses, nor encourage the ingestion of lemons so as to constipate oneself.

self-deleting this post, due to bad humordar this morning.

[npincus]

21. Sorry you didn't get that, Dob Bole

I will explain my humorous effort: Since your DU screen name is Dob Bole, the reference to your WIFE Delizabeth meant "Elizabeth Dole" who, I speculate, has a sour lemon stuck way up her ass. It may even be in her throat.

I certainly did not mean to offend YOU- I am sure are a lovely person. And yes, I am old- If over 40 is old.

Was the joke that obscure? I shall be more careful. Love your handle, anyway.

[Dob Bole]

24. lol...sorry

Just wasn't thinking about it that way...I never even think of the Bob Dole reference anymore. My friends have nicknamed me Dob Bole ever since that SNL skit about it.

Sorry again...I promise to go get more caffeine and do better. :)

[npincus]

27. don't mention it, Dob!

[enough]

9. Can Cheney even stand up for and hour and a half?

Standing up straight in one spot for a long time is difficult for the elderly, and even for the middle-aged if they aren't fit. It can actually be more exhausting than moving around.

[Shopaholic]

10. It's a sit-down debate.

[npincus]

11. Chimpy's boys negotiated a big-ole boardroom table

for the VP candidates to sit at... I was told, as per the 32-page debate contract, it was custom-built to their specifications. Maybe that means a built-in defribulator to start Cheney's heart when it quits under intense Edwards pummeling.

[enough]

14. Guess they've thought of everything.

Sitting behind a table you can hide a lot of bulk.

[indef]

12. you never know

Cheney might try to act folksy and humane during the debate. Stranger things have happened.

[venus]

16. that's it!

while Edwards is probably boning up on being mean.

[BarbaRosa]

13. Here's a story in Rolling Stone

about dick, The Curse of Dick Cheney. An interesting read if you haven't seen it.

[npincus]

15. thanks- Cheney, like Bush, its one of those guys who 'fails upwards'

Cheney, because of his cunning, Bush because of his birthright- and cunning (not brains).

[kentuck]

17. I think you are right, npincus...

Cheney will do his best to tear down Kerry....Edwards may as well not be there, if Cheney has anything to say about it.

[Sivart]

19. Judging by the first debate.......

It seems like they have nothing but the Flip Flop thing to run with. I think it will be more of the same from Cheney.

Is the VP debate going to be 90 minutes like the first presidential debate?

[yellowcanine]

20. Cheney will struggle with his temper when Edwards talks about Halliburton.

Remember it was Halliburton that made Cheney snap and tell Pat Leahy to eff himself. Edwards as a skilled trial lawyer can stick the knife in and sound gracious to everyone else but the victim. At the least, Cheney will get red faced and we can always hope for an outburst.

[RevCheesehead]

49. It ain't just "trial lawyer," it's Southern Gentleman!

From my 10 years in NC, I learned that Southerners have a unique charm all their own. They can tell you to eat shit in a way that makes it sound appetizing and delicious!!!

Any NC Dems care to comment?

[Dob Bole]

22. Edwards is going to make short work of Cheney....

Edwards:

1) Best lawyer in North Carolina history
2) has charm
3) people like him better

Cheney:

1) looks like the Penguin
2) homicidal maniac
3) monotone voice
4) Halliburton

The only way that Cheney wins this debate is if he pulls out the right umbrella..the one with the bullets in it. Even if he does, there will be secret service present.

[goodboy]

36. you said it. I'm not worried about the debate

I'm more worried about threads like this one that make us look weak.

I thought those on the other side were the "masters of low expectations"

[jmowreader]

23. Cheney will try to not get his ass handed to him

If Cheney attempts to do this all-out warfare on Kerry's likeability and trustworthiness, Edwards will turn that shit around and beat him with it.

It's all the B/C campaign has left, and Edwards won't let Cheney get away with it. Remember that Edwards made his coin by tearing CEOs apart.

[underpants]

25. Yeah but Cheney really has nothing to lose here

No one likes him anyway. He is their best pitbull so I suspect him to come out really nasty and stay that way. Edwards can handle himself just fine and I think this is where (if they are watching) they go after the women's vote-not the pretty boy angle just the juxtaposition to the mean old Cheney.

The spin on this will be that Cheney kept "Security Mom's" tight but I don't think so.

[yellowcanine]

29. "Security Moms" as a voting bloc have been pretty much debunked.

They are all married women with young children - which as a group were already voting Bush. This was media creation, probably driven by Rove and Gillespie.

[MrBenchley]

26. Hope Edwards mentions Halliburton early and often...

I'm looking forward to this debate....

[Neecy]

28. well...

No doubt Cheney will do his normal fearmongering, but Edwards will be prepared. I'm sure he's spent the last few weeks reviewing the 2000 debate tapes, as well as Fang's recent campaign speeches.

I hope Edwards comes out hard at the beginning about Halliburton and the secret energy meetings. I get the feeling that Cheney knows that if they lose, a lot of his bullshit will be discovered by a Kerry/Edwards administration and he'll do a perp walk in 2005. He acts like a cornered rat with his teeth exposed - I'd tap into his fear and pound on the corruption in the VP's office.

[JI7]

30. i think he will mostly focus his attacks on Kerry

he probably wont go after edwards much. but edwards is very good at defending kerry.

[goclark]

31. Don't forget that Ifill is one of Condi's best friends

Ifill will NOT be nice in anyway to Chimp.

She will give all the inside stuff to Condi. Do not let the fact that she is African American equal Democrat.

Just google the two of them to see more.

I have watched her interview Democrats and make CNN type digs. She is rea; slime.

I was shocked! I thought she was a skilled reporter. No way = she is a ROVE plant.

[demokatgurrl]

50. Right there - Ifil is a RW reporter, works

for WSJ and on TV. Very conservative.

[goodboy]

32. "drive down Kerry's likeablity"

NOBODY likes Cheney. Even people who 'support' him can't stand that smug fuck. I disagree with these assumptions about the debate, and here's why:


Edwards is going to continually spank Cheney on Halliburton, Cheney's votes to cut intel. and weapons systems, and close military bases. Cheney's LIES about WMD, Nukular program, ties to Al-Qaeda, and Saddam/911. I'm extremely optimistic.

what to you think.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

33. Cheney will mumble his way through the debate

Every time he speaks he mumbles "deep" thoughts and you find people leaning in to hear what great pearls of "wisdom" the flunky has said this time. It is only after you have had time to parse the sentence do you realize that 1 - he told big lies (there is no matter of degrees with this guy), 2 - made an outrageous claim against Kerry/Edwards, 3 - warned we are getting attacked if we vote for K/E, won't get attacked if we vote B/C, 4 - or said nothing at all - he was just coughing, grunting or farting. But he does managed to slow the discussion down, limit the questions, give seemingly greater weight to his words and bully his way through the talk. He does not have the mental agility to go one on one with Edwards so he will just pontificate on and on and hope the moderate lets him slide.

Bring it on. Edward will eat his lunch if the rules of the debate are observed. BTW - is the vice presidential debate operating under the same 32 pages of rules Bushie needs?

[goodboy]

34. He was thrown out of college TWICE...he really is a flunkie.

I would think that they are required to follow the same rules. Have you seen them? Would you like me to send the PDF to you?

[npincus]

35. I think he'll do that, too

but let's face it, people don't vote based on VPs, they choose the guy at the top of the ticket. I think Cheney will try to diminish Edwards as a lightweight, but he will really go after Kerry. Kerry's advances since the last debate are the biggest threat to their re-election.. they will try to squelch this momentum and turn it around. That's my humble opinion- but unlike the Chimp, I will admit I make mistakes!

I think Edwards ought to go after Bush's Flipflops, not use the whole debate to beat up on Cheney since everyone hates him already (of course he should do all you've said above, too) but instead, tear Bush a new asshole.

I hope Edwards keeps repeating "hard work"....

[goodboy]

37. "they choose the guy at the top of the ticket"

This is what the Repukes will say when Cheney gets his clock cleaned. Otherwise, Cheney will be expected to carry Bush's water from the first debate.

[npincus]

38. okey doke

in any case, I hope that custom-made debate table (per Jame Baker's 32-page contract) has a defribulator built-in to restart Cheney's heart after the ass-kicking commences!

[goodboy]

41. LMAO...Maybe it's built in to the lapel microphone....nt

[TexasSissy]

40. I've never seen Cheney on the defensive. It's not in his makeup.

He'll simply say what "the real facts are" that this little fella doesn't know about, blah blah blah.

[goodboy]

42. Real facts? Like Saddam's ties to Al qaeda, or his Nukular programs...

[TexasSissy]

46. Yep. Remember he said that HE had info that others did not?

And many fools out there BELIEVE that crap!

[goodboy]

48. Oh yeah...info that shot halliburton's stock straight up after 8/6 PDB

[msanthrope]

43. I expet Cheney to come out swinging....

I see this a a Repuke opportunity to assure their base. I expect Cheney to make plenty of snarly, half-assed 'zingers' that will make the Freeptards go 'whooo--hooo', but won't be of any substance, and will fall flat with most Americans who do not read Free Republic.

This debate will allow Bush's hardcore crazies to continue beleiving in him--after all, Unca Dick is a steady, reassuring figure if you think their way. His sarcasm will be taken for intellegence.

The Freeptards need a paternalistic idol, an Old Testament deity, a guy who promises to solve all the pesky problems by smiting the enemy..and that's the Cheney who is going to show up tomorrow night.

[napi21]

44. I tthink Cheney will try to appear like a kind old grandfather,

trying to council Edwards, the smart young, and inexperienced upstart. God forbid, America is attacked again, and something untoward happens to Kerry, this Edwards guy just couldn't do the job!

[Carolinian]

45. Cheney will try to trap JE into using up his time defending voting

records or some other endless topic. He will throw out some insults or lies at the end of his answer to throw JE off. JE needs to attack first.

[n2mark]

47. Edwards

needs to be prepared for Cheney to play on "global test."

[demokatgurrl]

51. Do you think Edwards can get Cheney

to tell him to go f*** himself on the air?