Cheney in bid to regain ground for Bush debate

US VICE-PRESIDENT Dick Cheney and vice-presidential candidate John Edwards slugged it out over jobs, judgment and Iraq in a hard-hitting debate that set the stage for US President George W Bush’s speech yesterday denouncing his Democratic rival’s record on national security.

Their debate on Tuesday night was largely a draw, moving the attention once again to their bosses in the second presidential showdown tomorrow night.

Mr Cheney and Mr Edwards headed for the battleground state of Florida and its 27 electoral votes. Mr Cheney was appearing yesterday in Tallahassee, Mr Edwards in West Palm Beach.

The Bush camp claimed a strong performance by Mr Cheney in Tuesday night’s debate in Cleveland helped break momentum that appeared to be going John Kerry’s way after the first presidential debate, while Democrats said Mr Edwards more than held his own.

Both candidates got some encouragement from post-debate polls.

Mr Cheney fared best in an ABC News poll of a Republican-leaning group of registered voters who watched the debate, with 43% giving Mr Cheney the edge, while 35% said Mr Edwards won.

The Democrat was viewed more positively in a poll of 178 undecided voters by CBS News that found more of this crucial group thought he had won, 41%, than thought Mr Cheney had won, 28%.

The two candidates, seated at a table just a few feet from each other at Case Western Reserve University, tore into each other repeatedly.

Mr Edwards accused the administration of “not being straight with the American people” about conditions in Iraq and of presiding over the biggest job losses since the Depression.

“Your facts are just wrong,” Mr Cheney said.

At one point, he told Mr Edwards, “Senator, frankly, you have a record in the Senate that’s not very distinguished”.

Mr Edwards, referring to Mr Cheney’s long record of public service, said: “One thing that’s very clear is that a long resumé does not equal good judgement.

“I mean, we’ve seen over and over and over the misjudgments made by this administration.”

The Democrat also said that as a member of Congress representing Wyoming more than a decade ago, Mr Cheney voted against Head Start and banning plastic guns that can escape detection in metal detectors.

Mr Edwards quickly put Mr Cheney on the defensive by suggesting the administration had botched Iraq and was still misleading the nation about it.

“The American people don’t need us to explain this to them. They see it on their television every single day,” Mr Edwards said.

The vice-presidential debate helped set the stage for tomorrow’s second debate between Mr Bush and Mr Kerry.