O.k. — since I got so much grief for not real-time blogging the last debate, here I am.

It’s 9:00. The debate is on the TV, and the game is on "GameCast" from ESPN.com

9:00 — the Yankees have started the game by getting runners in scoring position thrown out in non-forceplay double plays. I’m hoping this is not a metaphor.

9:02 — is anyone else in America vaguely insulted that we’ve set up a debate system where the candidates are not allowed to actually debate?

9:04 — Dear Mr. Cheney, "most likely nexus" is a nice way of saying "Oops."

9:05 — "Mr. Vice President, you are still not being straight with the American people." YEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAA!!!! Edwards hits the first pitch out of the park. And making this a bipartisan critique, Edwards hammers it to the upper deck.

9:07 — First appearance of the split-screen by CBS. And… "Mr. Vice President, there was no link between 9/11 and Iraq. Your own Secretary of State has said it." Dang. Game on!!!

9:09 — I’ve heard the words Tora Bora more in the last two weeks than ever before in my life. Anyone else wonder what really happened there?

9:10 — Go Edwards. Keep hammering that home. And Cheney’s "I’ve never said that" line is just garbage, and I hope that every major media story takes that on tomorrow.

9:11 — Twins 1 – Yankees 0

9:11 — I think Cheney did score by saying Kerry has been a peacenik for twenty years, and now he’s just talking tough. That will resonate, even if the rest of what he said is factually questionable at best.

9:13 — Is Cheney really claiming that Afghanistan is a success? I mean… say what? The opium trade is through the roof… the Taliban is back… the government is on the verge of collapse… he calls this progress?

9:14 — "Someone got it wrong, but it wasn’t Kerry / Edwards." Wow… they’ve really made him the attack dog. "These distortions will continue." Now… my question is this… are they going to unleash him on the campaign trail? This is brilliant. He just called them liars. There’s the opium stat. He’s just scoring left and right.

9:15 — And why does Cheney always get the 30 second rebuttal and Edwards doesn’t? That’s twice now.

9:17 — Here’s the "Global Test" question — oops. Edwards fumbled the beginning. Honestly, he could have answered that by saying, "We will be held responsible by the world for our actions." And then he could have tied that to "telling the truth" like he just explained.

Ah. He just did it. "We’re going to make sure we tell the world the truth." There we go. We must be credible.

Gawd… anyone else wishing that Kerry was this clear last week? Anyone else here hoping that the Yankees-Twins game gets terrible ratings in the swing states?

9:19 — Wow. The contrast of costs between Gulf I and Gulf II was something I hadn’t heard.

9:20 — "Your facts are just wrong, Senator." This is getting nasty. This whole comment by Cheney shows we are getting him angry… but unlike Bush, Cheney angry is dangerous, not confused. This is going to get nasty. "Your record would be more credible if there was action to back it up." Nice line by Cheney… and yep, it’s on. Cheney is warmed up. Edwards is on his game, let’s see how he responds to Cheney’s tactics.

9:24 — hm. Cheney attacked hard there. Edwards is going to not let Cheney slam Kerry though… but I’d love to see him connect the dots between the Swift Boat commercials and the GOP in response to the VP’s claim that he never questioned Kerry’s patriotism.

9:25 — First mention of Halliburton by Edwards.

9:26 — My mother’s first "debate check-in" call. This might be a record of restraint for her.

9:28 — Gut worry… can Edwards maintain the pace or will he tire?

9:28 — "You need more than thirty-five people to run an election in Cleveland, let alone in Iraq!" Ha!

9:30 — Five minute break for cuddle time with Kat.

9:41 — Back… is he attacking Halliburton? Woooo! It’s about time.

9:43 — Edwards makes the Saudi link!

9:44 — All Cheney can do in response is attack Edwards’ Senate attendance? Say what? I thought Edwards response, attacking Cheney’s records on specific votes — pointing out the Cheney’s record was one of the most conservative on record was apt.

9:47 — "Reduce the litigation cost" — that was the first underhanded attack by Cheney on Edwards’ career as a trial lawyer.

9:48 — Cheney brings up NCLB. I’m hoping Edwards points out what a failure it is.

9:49 — Wow! Edwards surprises me… he just pointed out that Cheney dodged the question, although, I do agree with Cheney that the way out of poverty can be education in the long term, so I think that was a piece of rhetorical bob and weave by Edwards, but hey, why not. Hitting the outsourcing of jobs is the right thing to do. I don’t think Cheney’s answer works here.

9:51 — Definitely a smirk by Cheney in response to Edwards argument.

9:53 — Edwards is giving very specific answers to these questions, Cheney’s arguments are mean, they score points, but they aren’t specific answers. Let’s talk about those corporate loopholes more. I’d like to know what they want to close.

9:54 — Here’s the "tax and spend liberal" attack. Cheney’s ecconomic plan makes no sense. You can’t make the tax cuts permanent, spend like crazy in Iraq and reduce the deficit.

9:57 — Here’s the dodge by Cheney on the gay marriage issue. "I want the states to do it." Hm. Too bad Edwards is going to spend time on the tax issue… well, on some level, too bad for those of us who would like to see this issue tackled, but it’s probably smart. Hm. I don’t love this answer. It’s politically smart. And I like that he brought it to "this is using the Constitution to divide people and that is wrong."

9:59 — Yes, Kerry and Edwards are trying to have it both ways. It’s still better than the out and out hatred and bigotry of the Bush campaign. And yes, he is explaining what civil unions are, but yes, he’s splitting hairs on the whole marriage / civil union thing. But yes, pointing out that this amendment is a political tool is good. And pointing out that this is a wedge issue that isn’t really on the forefront of what we should be talking about.

10:01 — WHAT WAS THAT? Cheney just essentially refused to defend the Bush policy on gay marriage. Woah. That was unbelievable.

10:02 — Very smart move by Cheney there to not take the personal bait on the trial lawyer question. The idea was out there with legitimacy as soon as it was asked — which I have issues with, and he’s much smarter globalizing the question. I think Cheney is doing a very good job here.

10:04 — Smart reply by Edwards pointing out that this is "the little man v. the big corporation."

(Total aside, I’d love to hear Edwards use the term "fiduciary responsibility" here.)

Edwards pointing out that the law serves the people with the Valerie Lakin story is smart.

10:05 — "Do you feel personally attacked…" this is a silly question. This is a smart answer by Edwards. Putting this in context was brilliant. Bringing up the inflation on medical costs is so smart. (By the way, at the dentist’s today, my filling and x-rays cost me $750 today. Go John!) The smartest thing Edwards said is that this is a ploy by the GOP to distract the voters.

You know, Edwards is really willing to get meta.

10:08 — Woah… what was that blindside about a $600,000 tax loophole? And yes, bring that right back to Halliburton. And then, bring it back to health care.

Commentary — Edwards is trying as hard as he can to make this a populist debate, I think. I’d love to look at the transcript and look at how many times Edwards brought the question back to how it affects everyday people and argued that Bush/Cheney haven’t considered that. That’s his theme, as we saw in the primaries.

10:11 — Did Cheney just admit he didn’t realize that the rise of AIDS in African-American women was so bad? That whole question was a bit of a ramble.

10:12 — African problems as a moral issue for America. Nice. Smart device there by Edwards… looking at the AIDS crisis as a piece of a larger problem with the health care crisis in America. Really, really smart. I think the moderate was a little annoyed that neither candidate was willing to deal with this as a racial issue.

10:15 — Just noticed… Yankees losing 2-0. Also, Edwards response about his qualifications rambled. He finally got to an agenda in the last few seconds. And hey, couldn’t he have attacked Bush’s qualifications a bit?

10:16 — Cheney is licking his chops to answer. He was grinning with glee. Of course, noting that he’s "helped" govern when many folks think he is running the country.

10:18 — Yankees have eight hits and no runs. Can’t keep getting into double plays and stranding runners.

10:19 — These questions are getting really odd. "How am I different from my opponent?" Even the VP looked surprised by that one. And this is a smart answer, trying to make this about his own "humble roots." "I’ve been in public service… unless I lost…" and of course, making millions with Halliburton was just gravy.

I actually think that he truly believes what he is saying about 9/11 changing the game. He’s right, but…

10:21 — "We were attacked, but we weren’t attacked by Saddam Hussein." Yaaaaaaaaahoooooo! Wow… Edwards answered exactly what I was trying to write. Edwards clearly knows his role as second… but it means he can’t answer a question without mentioning Kerry. Oops.

10:23 — Why is it o.k. for the moderator to use the smear terms of the Bush campaign? Is she going to call Bush a draft-dodger and ask Cheney to defend it? I love that Edwards is turning the term back on them. But seriously, it’s the dumbest term since "Slick Willie." Can we please return to the day when flip-flops were just shoes?

10:26 — I just remembered I had picture in picture. The game is now on in the left hand corner. Just in time for the seventh inning stretch. Feh.

10:27 — There we go… Edwards has finally stopped letting Cheney being the only one to mention education. He finally said that NCLB was underfunded and isn’t working.

10:28 — I really want her to ask Edwards an education question. Oh well, not going to happen. That was a funny moment where Edwards realized it really wasn’t his turn.

10:29 — Is Cheney really lamenting the loss of bipartisanship after the horribly partisan actions of this administration? If he wonders why, ask Tom DeLay. I’m sure he’s on speed dial. I hope Edwards savages him for this. This question really is beyond the pale… and he’s not claiming that Zell Miller is evidence of bipartisan support, is he?

10:30 — "The president said he was a uniter, not a divider. Have you ever seen America more divided." Thank you. And then he goes to health care. He’s definitely going after them.

10:32 — Yankees homer. 2-1 Twins. But there seems to be an issue. Foul ball? Dang.

10:33 — "They had a choice to be with the American people or with the drug companies. They were with the drug companies." Yes. Yes. Yes. Someone needed to tell America that no matter how nicely you name your legislation, it’s about the effects it has.

10:33 — Edwards returns to the stump speech for the closing. Although, he’s moving to Dean "You have the power" land with this last close. "You get to decide."

10:35 — good close by Cheney as far as gravitas goes.

Overall thoughts. I thought both candidates did better than the top of the ticket debate the other night. I think Cheney is really a very smart man and thought on his feet much better than Bush did. I also thought that Edwards argued very well. I am not sure if this does more than not hurt the Kerry / Edwards momentum, but that’s o.k., I’m not sure it needs to do more than that. Edwards said a lot of the things I wished Kerry would have said over and over. I’m disappointed that Edwards didn’t take on education more. I’m amazed that Cheney essentially refused to defend the GOP position on gay marriage. I’d give the edge to Edwards for refusing to allow Cheney’s lies to stand, but I think that’s a partisan edge.

I think that, overall, people who believe the Democrats will be thrilled with Edwards’ performance, but I think the GOP is thrilled with Cheney’s performance as well. What I wonder is this… was Edwards performance strong enough to keep the Get Out the Vote momentum going? I think it was. Again, if Edwards did nothing more than keep the energy going, he wins the debate. Also, it’s more likely that Kerry can build off of Edwards’ performance than it is Bush building off of Cheney’s.

And for my money, I’d rather see a debate like this than what we saw last week. They argued, they disagreed, they answered each other, and yes, they debated. We are owed at least this much.

Yankees still losing 2-0. Dang.