I think it was a tie last night. Cheney reassured his base, while Edwards prevented Kerry from actually losing any ground. I think I have to give the edge to Edwards on seeming approachable, passionate, and caring, while Cheney was about as surly and vicious as you'd expect—the unexpectedly disarming nice guy act of the 2000 debate was nowhere to be seen. It was smart of Edwards to keep using John Kerry's name, establishing himself as an effective advocate for his No. 1; Cheney made little secret of the fact that he's the power behind the throne. Now, with ever-more bad news out of Iraq (plus this damning report on WMD by the chief U.S. weapons inspector) and the economic news looking pretty grim, I'm hoping Kerry can seal the deal on Friday with the people he impressed last Thursday. It's tough to attack the president without looking unpatriotic; I think they've found a way to do that. Of course I wish the fight were about the immorality and wrongness of the war, not the war's conduct. Will we ever get the Department of Peace that we need and deserve? Not in the next Administration, that's for sure. But I believe it's a stupid mistake for Bush and Cheney to keep repeating that phrase "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time." The truth of that phrase has a lot of resonance for me, and for millions of other Americans.

Bogie's getting more surgery today and it's hard to concentrate on dissertation or poetry stuff.