There Goes the Turnout

Tuesday's debate was excellent. It was entertaining to watch, informative, and spirited. It was a contest between two intelligent, knowledgeable, articulate men, both entirely up to the task of holding public office. There's just one problem.
Neither of these men is running for president.

For someone like myself who follows politics, this was extremely discouraging. It's a sort of "measuring stick" that shows us just how bad our choices are, and I'm convinced that either of the men running for vice president could handily defeat either of the men running for president. The hardcore Dems and 'Pubs must be wishing they could go back in time and re-nomonate their parties' tickets upside-down.

But there's one thing that I, and most of the writers on the web, and most of the commentators on television have forgotten. We've all watched the political conventions. People who follow politics tend to do that. The thing is, most swing voters don't follow politics.

Everybody knew who Dick Cheney was. Those who don't even vaguely remember his running for Vice President four years ago might have seen any of his numerous talk-show appearances, and some of the older folks (that swing-voter old-people demographic) might remember him as Secretary of Defense some time ago. John Edwards, to people who do not actively follow partisan politics, was virtually invisible until tonight. He made a first impression.

Edwards was not as well versed as Cheney on the Defense issues. That, of course, was to be expected. Dick Cheney has been Secretary of Defense, Served on defense-related committees in the legislature, and been CEO of a defense services contractor. Defense is what he has built his career on. If he didn't know something about it, he'd be back in Cheyenne right now.

His one-sidedness showed in the second half of the debate, when the topics switched to domestic policy. Edwards proved he is a more well-balanced candidate than Cheney, but again, neither of these men is running for president. Most importantly, by holding his own against Cheney, Edwards proved that, like Bush, Kerry has a running mate that knows what he's talking about.

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