Hugh Hewitt

SUMMARY: "If you can't stand up to Howard Dean, how can you stand up to Al Qaeda."

A Cheney win, but no disaster for Edwards, though perhaps for Kerry. Cheney wins because of the "global test" exchange and the repeated blows at Kerry's record --not Edwards-- and nailed Edwards on the refusal to count Iraqi casualties. Key thing is that Kerry's record is back on the table.  Cheney is very hard hitting on the reality of the war --one weapon in one city-- and a strong defense of Bush as Commander-in-Chief.

Talking heads will have to discuss same sex marriage over the next four weeks, and that doesn't help Kerry Edwards.  The jobs rhetoric just doesn't wash with the last year.

"Global test" is an anchor around Kerry's neck, and Edwards attempt to say Kerry has been consistent on Iraq is just absurd, which underscores why this election is essentially unwinnable by Kerry.

But Edwards set himself up for a comeback in four years.

Check his site for his Vice Presidential Debate Scorecard.