Toe-to-toe on Iraq war

CLEVELAND — In a sharp face-to-face exchange in the opening parry of the vice presidential debate, Sen. John Edwards accused Vice President Dick Cheney of "not being straight with the American people" about Iraq, prompting Cheney to vigorously defend the administration's record on foreign policy and to challenge the national security credentials of the Democratic ticket.

On the invasion of Iraq, the reasons for the war, and the reconstruction, Edwards repeatedly accused the administration of exhibiting bad judgment, and wasted no time raising a signature argument Cheney made before the war. "Mr. Vice President, there is no connection between the attacks of September 11th and Saddam Hussein," Edwards said in the early minutes of the showdown.

Cheney replied: "The senator has got his facts wrong. I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11, but there's clearly an established Iraqi track record with terror."

The debate, the only one between the vice presidential contenders, was not expected to dramatically shift a narrowing race between President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry. But both sides saw a chance to gain momentum just 28 days before the election, with soaring television ratings for the first presidential debate and exploding new-voter registration rolls reflecting record levels of interest in the campaign.

And though vice presidential debates are usually a footnote to the campaign, the drastic differences between the austere Cheney, 63, and the sunnier Edwards, 51, generated unusual buzz and suggested a larger audience than usual might tune in to the showdown at Case Western University. Bush and Kerry both broke away from campaigning to watch. The campaigns sent some of their top staff to "spin" thousands of reporters covering the event, fresh off a presidential debate that saw negative impressions about Bush quickly gel in the hours afterward.

Gay marriage to Mideast

The wide-ranging debate touched on issues from gay marriage to Middle East peace and saw some lively exchanges between the two candidates. Though there were some deeply personal moments — Edwards noted that Cheney has a daughter who is a lesbian — much of the debate was highly substantive, and both men jumped in to disagree with each other at times.

Both Edwards and Cheney were asked to explain past statements from the campaign trail. Asked whether he believed Kerry would endanger the United States, Cheney answered cautiously. "I don't believe he has the qualities we need in a commander in chief because I don't think, based on his record, he would" make the country safe.