Edwards, Cheney debate pits Mr. Sunshine against Mr. Dour

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday night at 9 p.m. Eastern time, the only vice-presidential debate of the… WASHINGTON – On Tuesday night at 9 p.m. Eastern time, the only vice-presidential debate of the campaign will pit sunny John Edwards and his sharp courtroom style against dour Dick Cheney, who’s seen and done it all at the top. Although it should be a lively battle, the outcome won’t mean much.

Edwards, the first-term North Carolina senator who’s short on policy experience but gifted with a twinkly charisma that masks his attack lines, must persuade voters that he’s ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

He must do so sitting next to Cheney, who’s held some of the biggest jobs in government during four decades as a Washington insider, but whose own heartbeat is a concern after several attacks and cardiac surgeries.

Cheney, who’s far more controversial today than he was in 2000, must maintain his air of quiet command and not be goaded into grumpiness or saying something he might regret, analysts said.

“Cheney has this gravitas thing he lays on you,” said Bill Carrick, a veteran Democratic strategist. “It has to do with his demeanor, his gruffness combined with his resume. Edwards has to break through that.”

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., failed to do that in his 2000 debate against Cheney; Lieberman’s gentle collegiality was largely ineffective.

Edwards will take a much harder-hitting approach than Lieberman did, said a senior official with the Kerry-Edwards campaign. Edwards will focus on how President Bush and Cheney “managed to lose more jobs, do nothing about health care and messed up Iraq,” the official said.

Tuesday’s format will be similar to the one in 2000; both men will be seated and taking questions from moderator Gwen Ifill of PBS. Kerry-Edwards campaign staffers are criticizing the format in an attempt to lower expectations for their man, who made millions as a star courtroom attorney.

“The fact that John Edwards, trial lawyer, doesn’t get to walk around the stage and work his mojo is a disadvantage,” one staffer said. “We’re glad we’re getting the debate, but it’s definitely on Dick Cheney’s turf.”

Edwards has been preparing for the debate in Washington and on the campaign trail. His sessions generally last a few hours, and prominent Washington lawyer Bob Barnett plays Cheney. (“We put him in a Darth Vader costume,” cracked one senior Kerry-Edwards staffer.)

Through Monday, Edwards will hole up in a “debate camp” in Chautauqua, N.Y., dashing out occasionally for some quick campaign events nearby.

Cheney will try to replicate his 2000 performance: make tough, conservative arguments in a calm, matter-of-fact manner.

“Cheney is as close to unflappable in these things as anyone I’ve ever seen,” said Norm Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington public policy organization. “He almost always manages to keep his cool.”

But there’s a fine line between gruff and surly, and there’s little doubt that Edwards will try to push Cheney toward the latter.

Cheney often sounds more ominous than hopeful on the campaign trail, and his partisan attacks sometimes test the boundaries of civilized political discourse. He told Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. to perform an obscene act and suggested that voting for Kerry would invite another terrorist attack on America.

Edwards will press Cheney on the economy and Iraq. An Edwards aide merely smiled when asked if Edwards would bring up Halliburton, the oil-services giant that Cheney ran during the 1990s that’s become controversial because of its wartime government contracts.

“Comparing Cheney to a big HMO or a big insurance company that’s done wrong to ordinary people is an apt comparison,” the staffer said, in an apparent allusion to Edwards’s earlier work as a trial lawyer.

If Cheney reacts irritably, he could hurt his standing with swing voters, experts said.

“If Cheney reinforces negative stereotypes of himself by coming across as grumpy as people assume he is, he’s in trouble,” said Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia.

Cheney will prepare for the debate in Wyoming through Sunday. He’ll probably relax on Monday and may go fishing, then fly to Cleveland Tuesday morning, an aide said.

Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, will portray Edwards during Cheney’s rehearsals.

Cheney aides said Edwards may be good at wowing jurors by appealing to their hearts, but Cheney will win the debate by appealing to voters’ heads.

“The debate should be about substance,” a Cheney aide said. “Vice President Cheney is all about substance. You’ll see a very different style” than Edwards’.

With the candidates’ contrasting styles and well-honed skills – and the fact that vice presidential debates often are more free-flowing because the stakes are lower than they are in presidential debates – the debate should be good theater, said Alan Schroeder, a Northeastern University professor who wrote a book on such debates.

“I think it’s going to be better than the presidentials, more entertaining and lively,” Schroeder said.

Past vice-presidential debates have provided memorable moments.

In 1976, Republican Bob Dole angrily referred to the “Democrat wars” of the 20th century, a remark he later said he regretted. In 1992, retired Adm. James Stockdale, Ross Perot’s running mate, never recovered from his opening, “Who am I? Why am I here?” which provided more material for late-night comedians than for voters.

Most famously, in 1988, Democrat Lloyd Bentsen lectured Republican Dan Quayle with: “I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

But barring a stupendous gaffe by either candidate, it’s unlikely that the outcome of the debate will have much of an impact on the election. Studies show that most voters don’t base their decisions on who’s on the bottom of the ticket. Even Bentsen’s verbal smackdown of Quayle didn’t prevent the Dukakis-Bentsen ticket from being swamped by the Bush-Quayle ticket.

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(c) 2004, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.