And that is all I have to say about "the" Debate of the season --Vini vidi vici.

I plan on this being my only post on The Ox-Bow Incident, and yes, I do think a hanging occurred last night, and the "hangee" was not my man Edwards.

Today the 10-5-04 Washington Post has the transcript -- which I know you don't need to read -- and at each appropriate point in the transcript, a link to the Debate Referee who provides a reality check (scroll do the link to each appropriate "assertion").

Wow!

The only vice presidential debate of the 2004 campaign lived up to its hype. It was a contentious affair that saw both candidates draw on their strengths -- for Vice President Cheney, gravitas and political experience, for Sen. John Edwards, masterful trial lawyer skills -- to hammer home points that they've been making for weeks on the campaign trail. In what has come to be an accepted debate tactic, each candidate made arguments based on differing interpretations of facts, and, in what has become all too commonplace in the current political climate, the arguments at times went beyond what the facts would support.

In an effort to get at the truth behind the spin, a team of researchers, editors and producers from The Washington Post and washingtonpost.com attempted to hold the candidates accountable on their assertions in a feature the Post calls The Debate Referee. See why the Ref threw flags on Cheney's assertions about Saddam Hussein's links to the al Qaeda terrorist network and Edwards's claims about the cost of the war in Iraq, to give two examples.
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The Washington Post's Dana Milbank likened last night's event to courtroom drama:

The Democratic challenger, reprising his former career as a trial lawyer, challenged Cheney mercilessly, as if prosecuting a cagey and possibly untruthful defendant, all the while charming the jury -- the viewing public -- with a winning smile. The Republican incumbent, obviously disdainful of the prosecutor, responded by questioning the prosecutor's credentials, as if lecturing a dense student.
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Did I think Sen. Edwards met and surpassed all expectations, reasonable and otherwise?

Did I think Sen. Edwards did his Party proud?

Did I have a good Tuesday evening in front of the TV?

Should the Kerry camp quit it's second-guessing about Kerry choosing Edwards as a running mate and questioning his contribution to this campaign?

Yes to all of the above (with the exception of the last, to which my answer is not just yes, but you guessed it, "Hell Yes!" And for us old-timers, I could add to proud part, "Proud as punch." They remember and know where I am coming from, and thus won't think I am being corny for saying such.)

Edwards came, Edwards saw, and Edwards conquered. Thanks Senator Edwards.