OK...Let's take it step by step.

First of all, it looks like Cheney was talking smack with the meeting Edwards for the first time comment. It was a solid punch, but foolish for him to throw knowing that the media was going to call him on it.

Zarak - Don't get me wrong on this. I wouldn't be saying this if I didn't believe it. I watched the pres debate and I'll fully agree that Bush got his A$$ handed to him. As I've said before, I am only a Bush fan right now because the other side put up a poor alternative. Give me a strong consistent moderate Democrat and I would have jumped onboard.

Jorge - I listened to that debate very closely. What I was hearing from both sides might have been what they've said before. I'll give you that. However, I was focusing on the substance of the remarks. On Cheney's side, I was hearing extensive knowledge on subjects and well thought out responses. On Edwards' side, I was hearing the same inflamatory pie-in-the-sky sound-bytes that we hear over and over. Cheney was thinking through his questions and Edwards was reading from a bullet-list in his head. This was very evident when a question was asked that fell outside of the norm. When hit with questions like that, Edwards would simply divert attention to another topic and when he didn't have enough to say, he'd tell some story to fill the time.

In the end, perhaps the debate wasn't a full win for the Bush/Cheney camp.....I'm not sure. The public has to judge that. On the core one on one debate between these two men, Cheney took Edwards to school. You could see his head spinning....or at least his hands shaking. Anyone would have had a rough time running up against that level of knowledge and experience.

BigJohn - Bremer is quoted as saying that this was his impression from being on the ground just after Hussein was ousted. The context of his comments was in relation to the looting and the lawlessness in those early days.....not in the context of the overall insurgence. Also, he said that he had asked for troops after that, but conceded that he was not as insistent as he could have been. Basically, he made a narrow statement that has been latched onto by the media as an indictment of the Administration as a whole, when it was merely his impression of a narrow point in time between the US arrival and the control enacted by both his team and the interim government.

As far as Rumsfeld's comments, he immediately followed by stating that he has consistently stated since 2002 that there were ties between Iraq and Al Quaida. Yes, he probably needs to clarify further on this one.

As far as scrambling goes on the Republican side, I don't see that. I see the left latching onto whatever minor soundbyte that they can find to give that appearance. To me, it seems like they are staying on task and getting the job done as best they can w/ the level of resistance they are seeing.

Mark - You may be correct in your analysis. I am not well-read on this topic. What I can tell you is that I don't lose sleep about cutting taxes on small and mid-size businesses. I work for a mid-size business and I am happy that Bush wants my company to have more money to spend on market expansion. If Kerry has his way, the government will suck more money from them, which in turn makes it harder for my department to get more headcount and equally hard for me to get a damn raise. No matter how he paints it, Kerry wants redistribution of wealth. The problem is that our economy doesn't work that way. The people that expand their companies to new markets, new products, and new arenas are the people that he is looking to penalize. The people that create innovation in this country, which in turn creates jobs and overall economic growth are the ones he wants to penalize. Yes, small businesses create jobs, but massive innovation, technology advances, and society-changing advances are products of all segments of the economy, including the dreaded "big business". Kerry doesn't get this....he sees the big companies as the enemy when they are the ones that are responsible for most of the great advances throughout our history.

There is one enemy in this ballgame and it's the government spend-hog that Kerry wants to run. Bush may be a bit out of control on his spending right now, but Kerry is the one openly advocating for increased government involvment/control, which in turn translates to increased spending, which in turn translates to increased taxes.