Cheney and Edwards Square Off as Debate Stakes Rise After Bush's Stumble

The vice presidential debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards, set for Tuesday evening at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, carries unusual weight for the Republican ticket after President George W. Bush turned in a faltering performance against Senator John Kerry in their first meeting last week.

VP debates have rarely moved voters since the format was introduced in 1976, but the 90-minute showdown is expected to matter more this cycle. Polls taken after the first presidential debate showed Kerry pulling even with Bush, erasing a five to eight-point gap and regaining ground on the economy while narrowing the president's edge on terrorism and Iraq.

Cheney, 63, is expected to lean on his Washington experience and frame Edwards, a first-term senator from North Carolina, as too inexperienced to handle national security. Edwards, 51, is expected to press Cheney on the Iraq war, reconstruction contracts awarded to Halliburton (his former employer), and the administration's economic record.

The two campaigns negotiated a seated-table format, a setting that suits Cheney, over Edwards's preferred town hall style. Both candidates retreated to separate locations in the days before the encounter to prepare. The next presidential debates are scheduled for Friday in St. Louis and 13 October in Tempe, Arizona.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in October 2004, in its own words.