AMERICA LOVES JOHN EDWARDS

I'm completely wasted. The debate wore me out. But nonetheless I voted in every poll I could find, and the results left me stunned.

My take on the debate: I was hugely impressed with Dick Cheney's ability to sound grave, deliberative, reassuring and credible while he fluently spun nonsense. At the beginning, he seemed the professor on stage with the student. But Edwards clearly picked up momentum as the debate wore on. He didn't say everything I wanted him to say, but he had ANSWERS and PLANS and he did an admirable job of representing our side. In style, he recalled that rare "most popular guy at school" who actually WAS popular, loved because he was lovable, deserving because he worked for the honors, close to his humble roots though a spectacular professional success (in Edwards' case, representing worthy clients of similar backgrounds). I doubt there's an American woman who saw tonight's debate who didn't respond to him in a positive way. Still, I thought that the media and the public would probably call the debate for Cheney while acknowledging that Edwards did as well as could be expected against a considerably more seasoned, experienced opponent.

I know the conventional wisdom is that the vice presidential candidates never really influence the election in a significant way. But after seeing the immediate media polls, where all but Fox have Edwards winning by at least 3-to-1 (and Fox has Edwards leading in double digits), I have to believe that this year might be different. Maybe, just maybe, more voters saw these two men as I did. If from here on out Kerry keeps Edwards visibly by his side, I believe he can add significantly to his woman's vote percentages. And every bit of momentum we gain is a step towards a Kerry presidency.

UPDATE: Can't believe I forgot to mention Edwards' absolutely splendid reaction shots to Cheney's answers. Shows how tired I am. (Big branding issues at work, and blogging obsession to boot) There were many more split-screen shots of Edwards' reactions than Cheney's, but I can't complain. Edwards was absolutely perfect. He was constantly in motion, though slo-mo, so you couldn't take your eyes off him and sometimes completely missed what Cheney was saying. It was MASTERFUL.