Here is what I sent to a few members of the media following the debate:
"After watching last weeks debate, and seeing John Kerry completely
defeat President Bush, I expected Vice President Cheney to come back
strong. But Edwards really surprised me tonight. He attempted to
force Cheney to confront his record of failure on both Iraq and then
economy, but Cheney seems blind to the facts. Cheney came across as
arrogant and defensive. Cheney's snide remark about not meeting
Edwards until tonight showed his real, dishonest self. Here is proof
that he met John Edwards, back in February of 2001:
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:S4X7WDzDUcoJ:static.highbeam.com/w/washingtontranscriptservice/february012001/vicepresidentdickcheneyvicepresidentdickcheneydeli/+VICE+PRESIDENT+CHENEY+DELIVERS+REMARKS+AT+NATIONAL+PRAYER+BREAKFAST+FEBRUARY+1,+2001+SPEAKER%20%3Cimg%20src=Cheney's snarling and his smug attitude did not come off well to me or
my friends, who watched the debate with me.
Cheney kept trying to distort the facts, and flat out lied. For
instance, he tried to say that the increase in medical malpractice
premiums in Wyoming had something to do with personal injury lawsuits.
This is simply not true.
http://www.insurance-reform.org/StableLossesWY.pdfCheney also denied trying to link Iraq and 9/11. NBC's truth squad
showed footage of him attempting to link the two, right on Meet the
Press!
When Cheney tried to attack John Kerry and John Edwards' records, and
Edwards brought up Cheney's record, Cheney didn't even attempt to
defend it, instead coming back with a condescending remark:
"EDWARDS: That was a complete distortion of my record. I know that
won't come as a shock.
The vice president, I'm surprised to hear him talk about records. When
he was one of 435 members of the United States House, he was one of 10
to vote against Head Start, one of four to vote against banning
plastic weapons that can pass through metal detectors.
He voted against the Department of Education. He voted against funding
for Meals on Wheels for seniors. He voted against a holiday for Martin
Luther King. He voted against a resolution calling for the release of
Nelson Mandela in South Africa.
It's amazing to hear him criticize either my record or John Kerry's.
IFILL: Thirty seconds.
CHENEY: Oh, I think his record speaks for itself. And frankly, it's
not very distinguished."
Edwards did a good job explaining John Kerry's health care plan,
especially the issue of allowing Americans to import prescription
drugs from Canada. He also made it clear, as he has throughout his
run in the primary and his run for Vice President, that he would be a
strong advocate for the middle class.
When I heard firsthand at the Kerry rally in Pittsburgh that Kerry's
VP would be John Edwards, I was unsure that John Kerry made the right
choice. But after tonight, I can definitely see why Kerry chose him.
In my eyes, he is definitely ready to become president if called upon.
-John, PA"
I got some responses that were simply "This is an automatic response. Your email was captured by the receiver's spam catcher."
Then this one just came in:
"Subject: please stop spamming me
Brian Shott
to me, brianwhitehead, leoneill, smokin35 ...
More options 1:17pm (21 minutes ago)
Good people,
You're filling my in-box with simplistic messages about Kerry and
Edwards winning their respective debates. First of all, you're
preaching to the choir. Second, by clogging my in-box you're making
it harder for me to do my work.
Keep it up and I'll vote for Bush.
-B
--
_____
Brian Shott
Associate Editor
Pacific News Service
275 Ninth Street, Third Floor
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-503-4170
www.pacificnews.org"
It's not like we all sent the same letter, I wrote mine myself, and I'm sure others did as well.:eyes: