OCTOBER 5, 2004 - Yeah the non-Moderate Independent media is saying nothing happened in last night's Vice Presidential debate.  But truly we learned a lot.

Among the things we learned:

• Cheney, "was not aware," that there is an epidemic of HIV ravaging black women here in America.
• Edwards set up a tax-evading S-corp shelter to avoid paying Medicare taxes on his lawyer earnings.
• Cheney did business, just before taking office, with "sworn enemies of the United States" and certified state sponsors of terrorism Libya and Iran.
• Edwards defended a poor little girl some company let get mamed rather than spend two cents fixing their product.
• The malpractice reform Bush/Cheney propose only address 1/2 of 1 percent of health care costs.
• Edwards knows drug company ads on TV are a big issue with regard to health care costs.
• Cheney believes, "all Americans ought to have access to medical care," an endorsement of the liberal platform and a direct affront to the Bush/Cheney position.
• Kerry voted over 600 times to cut taxes (and Cheney no longer claims Kerry voted "350 times" to raise taxes - tonight he used the number "98.")
• Millionaires sipping drinks by their pools pay lower tax rates than troops serving in Iraq.
• 6 children were killed in a blast at a Sabarro pizzaria in Israel just moments after Edwards passed by it.
• As a Congressman, Dick Cheney was, "one of four to vote against banning plastic weapons that can pass through metal detectors... voted against the Department of Education... voted against funding for Meals on Wheels for seniors... voted against a holiday for Martin Luther King... voted against a resolution calling for the release of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. 

Then there were the things we already knew:

• Dick Cheney thinks we should be afraid.
• Edwards knows how to make the Clintoesque heart to heart connection.

And the lie of the night:

• Cheney:  "The senator has got his facts wrong. I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11."
• Reality Check:  Cheney has asserted exactly that many times, including during a taped session of NBC's Meet The Press.

So who won the debate?  Will it make a difference?

Enough already!  We told you months ago it will be a landslide for Kerry, and it will.

Why?

Elections are never as complex as the press makes them.  Carter never had a chance against Reagan, Dukakis never did against Bush, Sr., yet the press made it like those were horse races.

This election is not a Bush V. Gore, it is like Carter v. Reagan.  Bush's record is as bad Carter's, and Kerry is a strong enough candidate that America will kick Bush to the curb happily.

But that is only part of the story.  Here's the reality.

Last year, if you went to places where Gore was leading and tried to volunteer, you were told there was nothing you were needed for - Gore had no campaign in places like California; nothing at all.

Flash forward to 2004.  A similar district in safe-state California this time not only has a massive grassroots campaign, not only has 30-40 tables set up each week for months now to register voters, but the Democrats are so fired up and active this time that they have even organized bus trips to battleground states and have been heading out en masse for months now to places such as Nevada and Arizona to help voter registration and motivation where it counts.

Candidate to candidate it's not even close, and the grassroots of the Democrats is going to push Kerry so far ahead it won't even be close.

As for the debate tonight, let the idiotic non-M/I press make the case that it was a draw.  In reality, Cheney gained nothing for the Bush camp, while Edwards made real ground, especially among women and African-Americans, when he showed charisma and an ability to connect Cheney never even remembered he might want to attempt.

More importantly, Edwards stood toe to toe with one of the most elder statesmen in the country and gave as good as he got, and in doing so he neutralized Bush's saving grace, the powerful warrior behind the scenes.  Tonight, Darth Cheney was humanized - his mask was pulled, and as a result, hiis superhuman power to defend the frail and guileless Bush has been killed. 

While the Busbbbbbbhies at first will be ecstatic they weren't embarrassed horibbly as they were Thursday, once the dust settles the reality will be that Edwards gained ground for Kerry while Cheney only gave Bushies a wistful moment which will leave them wishing they had a real candidate and not an unqualified puppet as their frontman. (NOTE: The Cheney/Darth Vader comparison you've been hearing places like CNN started here over a year ago - M/I, helping set the rest of the media's conversation back on a useful track.)