During the Edwards-Cheney debate, I saw a smart-yet-folksy Edwards talk like a remake of the early Clinton (except in shorter sentences). Cheney, in the ultra-rare situation of having to handle semi-sharp questions, was his normal unlovably cranky self; but he was at least coherent, and thus outdid his ostensible boss Bush.

Cheney kept to his pre-planned, quasi-fabricated talking points. He started out smoother than Bush at changing the subject to something for which he had a prepared response, but again that’s not saying much. But by the debate’s end, Cheney had clearly had enough of the proceedings, and abrogated his right of rebuttal.

The right-wing media, as expected, spared no effort to interpret Cheney’s surly boredom as dynamic oratory. (Chris Matthews even claimed Cheney had “hit home run after home run.”) A more aware analysis would credit Cheney for reassuring his base, but acknowledge Edwards did the better job of convincing “swing” voters.

After the last debate, I compared Kerry and Bush to the Cartoon Network duo of I.M. Weasel and I.R. Baboon. For those who don’t click on this site’s links, I.M. Weasel is not what you might think of a cartoon weasel as representing. He’s a heroic genius, a bold action star who sets everything to right. He’s even voiced by Next Generation Klingon Michael Dorn. I.R. Baboon, in contrast, behaves as a baboon.

As for this past debate, Edwards reminded me of that other Southern trial lawyer Atticus Finch. Cheney, meanwhile, is like one of those humorless villain types whose only joys come from the violent amassing of power. A Dalek, perhaps.