Spin War: No Surrender, No Retreat

CBSNews.com Chief Political Writer David Paul Kuhn is reporting from the site of the vice-presidential debate.

Within moments of the debate's end, more than three-dozen representatives from both campaigns were claiming victory for their candidate.

Republicans most often said Edwards lost because he couldn't explain Kerry's position on issues.

"Even the best lawyer in America couldn't defend the Kerry record," said Bush-Cheney campaign manager Ken Mehlman.

Democrats fervently disagreed. What voters saw was that, "John Edwards is capable of becoming president of the United States," said Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

Not surprisingly, there was no admission by any of the surrogates that the opposing side had won on any point.

Even the usually sober Matt Dowd, the Bush-Cheney chief strategist, was heavily on the attack. "All Edwards said was slogan after slogan," Dowd said, adding that Cheney, "showed substance over rhetoric."

While vice presidential debates are traditionally relegated to election-year sideshows, both campaigns believed Tuesday's meeting mattered.

As the 90-minute debate at Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University wound down, the spinners were already positioned to speak to journalists.

The Republican ticket's Mehlman was talking to staffers even while moderator Gwen Ifill of PBS had a full 23 minutes of debate time left. Republican chairman Ed Gillespie was in another corner, also not watching the debate, in the gymnasium where journalists were filing their stories.

Though most of the Democrats stood in the rear of the gym, huddled, watching television, they sprouted immediately at the close of the debate.

Both sides declared victory.

There was a sense among Republicans that they lost the spin war following last week's presidential debate in Miami. The GOP was determined to control the message this time.

Republican Party chairman Ed Gillespie listed points where he thought Edwards failed to convince voters. He also said that Kerry's statement that Iraq "was the wrong war, at the wrong place at the wrong time" was irresponsible.

Like Cheney in the debate, Gillespie chided the Democrats for diminishing the sacrifice of U.S. allies in Iraq. "If that's how you treat allies, how are going to get new allies to the effort?" Gillespie rhetorically asked.

Democratic chairman Terry McAuliffe also chimed in. Like his Republican counterpart, McAuliffe pulled no punches, claiming that Cheney "looked aggravated" and "upset."

He added that, "Clearly, Dick Cheney looked better than George Bush did."

Kerry-Edwards chief strategist Tad Devine cited a CBS News poll of uncommitted voters, who viewed Edwards as the winner over Cheney, 41 percent to 28 percent.

Dowd, the Bush-Cheney strategist, cited an ABC News poll naming Cheney the night's winner.

But no one would predict how the horserace will shape up at week's end. Dowd did say his camp would walk away from the evening "ahead."

Wishful thinking, possibly, but Dowd quickly reverted to his sober self, adding that the presidential election will "continue to solidify."