Love this quote in an article about John Edwards today:
“If you liked the [1988] Quayle-Bentsen debate, you’ll love the Cheney-Edwards debate,” said Ed Rogers, Republican political consultant, referring to vice presidential candidates Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen. “The contrast with Cheney just couldn’t be more stark on this issue. Who’s going to be tougher on terrorists who want to kill you and your family? Cheney or Edwards? It is just going to be laughable.”
Aside from the hilarity that induces, there’s something else there that bugs me. This vice president has entirely too much power. The vice president’s only duty is to cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate, and yet Cheney seems to be running the show — ordering the military to shoot down planes (can he do that?), holding secret meetings with energy companies, and — evidently — standing outside my house like a Terminator keeping me safe from those terrorists that want to kill me and my family. Why, he’s the most incredible hero there ever was!
It’s interesting to note that the article points out Edwards’ focus on terrorism before September 11, 2001:
In the summer of 2001, when much of the Republican and Democratic policy community was obsessed with missile defense, Edwards urged more attention to terrorism. The North Carolina senator had such limited luck pitching an OpEd article on terrorism to major newspapers that the piece, warning of poor cooperation among federal and local law enforcement, ended up in the weekly Littleton Observer, circulation 2,230 — four weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks.
