Dick Cheney's vice presidential debates, the highlight reel

With all eyes, or anyway the political ones, trained on tonight's vice presidential debate between Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, we got to wondering how the current vice president fared in his.

So we took a look at Dick Cheney's debates -- in 2000 against then-Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut (now a connected-at-the-hip buddy of Republican John McCain), and in 2004 against that fresh face on the national scene, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. 'Nuff said.

Turns out that Cheney, since dubbed Darth Vader for his dark vision and passion for secrecy, forecast a lot of the Bush administration's key initiatives.

In 2000, asked by moderator Bernard Shaw of CNN about whether a Bush-Cheney White House would move against Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Cheney basically said yes. Check it out.

And in 2004, asked by moderator Gwen Ifill of PBS, about the Iraq war, Cheney basically used his "spin" option to counter Edwards' claim that the United States, having alienated traditional allies, was having to shoulder the burden alone. Here's the clip.

This year, said spokeswoman Megan Mitchell, Cheney "looks forward to watching the debate" from the vice presidential home at the Naval Observatory. Maybe even with his feet up.

-- Johanna Neuman

Comments

[John Gleason]

Cheney always has been vocal about his opinions. He never tries to disguise his thoughts.

[Malby]

Best part of the VP debate was when Biden said Cheney was the most dangerous VP we've ever had. The Ohio voters being monitored on CNN agreed almost 100%.