Initial reactions from the 'Hardball' panelUpdated:

To me this is hillarious, where were these people. Mitchell is impressed with the proven lie he told. Scarborough says Cheney obliterated Edwards. Reagan is the only one who must have seen the debate.

Andrea Mitchell
I think Dick Cheney did awfully well at, first of all, putting John Edwards in his place, saying that I have been presiding over the Senate and I didn't meet you until tonight. Talking about his not having been on the job was pretty devastating.

Ron Reagan
Well, that was Cheney's best line.

I don't think we saw in this debate what we saw last time, which was a pretty clear winner that would be obvious to anybody.

This time, I think the chattering classes, and I include all of us among them, will come out on the side of— there was a stature gap there, and it was to Cheney's advantage. I am not sure that that stature gap is going to be quite so apparent, though, to the general public.

I will mention the one remark that Dick Cheney made that was so extraordinary at the beginning, where he denied ever drawing a parallel between 9/11 and Saddam. All of us, our jaws hit the table.


Joe Scarborough
Speak for yourself, Ron.

You know, I got in trouble last week when I said George Bush lost that debate.

I tell you, tonight, no doubt about it. Edwards got obliterated by Dick Cheney. .............................

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6187956/

BULLSHIT

Our media, what an embarassment.

Their credibility is going down the tubes as more and more people see them defend the indefensible! Tweety makes me want to puke and Scarborough would be on death row in a sane world! BTW didn't Bush just give Andrea Mitchell's husband a big important job a couple of weeks ago? She's bought and paid for by the GOP and singing their song 24/7!

the media's job is: to look for what the truth really is then report it to us, the public. Shameful.

unbiased reporter. She knows her and her husband won't have a lot to
do in a Kerry administration, won't be invited to the most important social functions like I am sure they go to with this administration.

but turned it off when I realized it was going to be completely one-sided. All they talked about was how GREAT cheney did, and barely any mention of Edwards' performance (which I thought was very good).

It also didn't help that there were about a MILLION */Cheney signs behind the stage.

About a half-an-hour into the post debate, things on MSNBC started to turn. As Cheney's lies were exposed, you could see Mathews get the bit in his teeth. He absolutely BLASTED that freep lawyer (forget his name...the guy that had to quit the Repug campaign because of his ties to the swifties) for not admitting that Cheney was lying about not tying Saddam to Al Queda and 9/11, since they had video of Cheney doing just that. They also showed Edwards' comments afterward in which he said that his wife reminded DICK that they had, in fact, met before. I couldn't agree more that the coverage, at first, looked to be nothing more than Repug spin, but that DID change later on, and significantly.

I think the tale of this debate may be just that. Initially, Cheney won points for his smartass answers to a couple of the questions and his obvious disdain for the younger Senator. But as the FACTS come to light, he's going to lose more ground than he supposedly gained for continuing the Shrub doctrine of misleading the American public.

of their debate coverage, adding that i no longer watch the show since it's taken such a bad turn. told them i was just curous about how they think they did.

Joe Scarborough
Speak for yourself, Ron.

You know, I got in trouble last week when I said George Bush lost that debate.



In other words, the VRWC put the screws to Joe: Call our guys the winner this time and we won't hurt you. What a wimp.