Unity

I think the one place where Edwards could really have stolen the election was the final question about unity. This is the place he really could've shifted the focus of the election from minutiae to a broader, forward-looking focus, Bill Clinton style. Unfortunately, he blew it by almost immediately reverting back to health care questions.

Truncated transcript:

IFILL: Whichever one of you is elected in November -- you mentioned those three electoral votes in Wyoming and how critical they've turned out to be.But what they're a sign of also is that you're going to inherit a very deeply divided electorate, economically, politically, you name it.How will you set out, Mr. Vice President, in a way that you weren't able to in these past four years, to bridge that divide?

CHENEY: Well, I must say it's one of the disappointments of the last four years, is that we've not been able to do what the president did in Texas, for example, when he was able to reach across the aisle and bring Democrats along on major issues of the day...We used to be able to do more together on a bipartisan basis than seems possible these days. I'm not sure exactly why. I think, in part, it may be the change in the majority-minority status in the Senate has been difficult for both sides to adjust to.And the Senate, of course, has been very evenly divided, 50-50, then 51-49, then 49-51 the other way.We'll keep working at it.

EDWARDS: Thank you.The president said that he would unite this country, that he was a uniter, not a divider.Have you ever seen America more divided? Have you ever seen Washington more divided?The reality is it is not an accident. It's the direct result of the choices they've made and their efforts that have created division in America. We can do better than that in this country.Cheney admitted defeat on this one and basically tried to blame it on the lack of bipartisanship of the Democrats. Which is exactly where Edwards should have pounced on. The September 11 attacks caused a surge of national unity unprecedented in my lifetime. Really, it was a gift from the sky for Bush. And people loved the way it felt. And politicians were willing to transcend partisan politics (if only because they would look petty, and dare I say, "unpatriotic" if they didn't.) And instead of using that unity to bypass traditional politics and really create bold initiatives, the Bush administration squandered every bit of it and more to create an unjust, impractical, costly war. If ever there was a time for Edwards to paint the broad picture of this, that question was it. He could have won Americans' hearts by saying something to the effect of, "We can achieve that feeling again. But it will never happen when this administration is in office. Because the way these people play the game is dirty and divisive, and [cue their overused "America can do better" phrase]. He could have hammered this point home (clearly subtlety is lost on most voters). But instead of pursuing this issue (which was Edwards's own gift from the sky), he chose to go back to health care.