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Article published Oct 6, 2004
Doug
Smith, daughters watch new friend on TV
ROBERT W.
DALTON
Staff Writer
The debate began early Tuesday night at
Doug Smith's house.No, not the vice presidential debate. The great bedtime
debate.Smith's daughters, 8-year-old Cameron and 6-year-old Anna Douglas, wanted
to stay up and catch their buddy, Vice President Dick Cheney, in action against
John Edwards. The Smith girls met Cheney in August, when he was the guest of
honor at a fundraiser at their house.There was no clear-cut winner: Cameron and
Anna Douglas got to stay up long enough to see the participants take the stage,
then were whisked off to bed.Cheney and Edwards didn't have to say a word for
Cameron to declare a winner."Cheney's cuter," she said.After tucking the girls
in bed, Smith, the state House Speaker Pro Tem, emerged wearing a green T-shirt
and khaki shorts. He took a seat in the spacious kitchen -- complete with wooden
frogs depicting the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" theme sitting on
the stove -- to watch the festivities."I think my wife got that from my in-laws'
house," Smith said of the frogs. "I think she just swiped it."As that debate
unfolded, it was easy to see whom Smith, a staunch Republican, favored. He'd
wince whenever Edwards scored a point and chuckle when Cheney scored."You know,
it's pretty cool that he sat right there," Smith said, pointing to a chair in
his living room.Smith said Cheney was almost grandfatherly during his visit."You
just like to sit and listen to him tell stories," Smith said. "There's an air of
credibility about him."Smith said he didn't identify at all with Edwards, even
though both are attorneys and politicians."We're also both Southerners," he
said. "That's about the extent of our similarities. I don't think we have any
common beliefs."Smith laughed out loud when Cheney said the first time that he
met Edwards was when they walked on stage Tuesday night."Ouch. I guess he set
him straight on that," Smith said. "That was probably the defining moment of the
debate."Smith also was pleased with the way Cheney responded when Edwards
criticized the Bush Administration's handling of the war in Iraq."I don't think
they like each other," Smith said with a laugh. "Cheney's lecturing him now and
he's powdering his nose. But that's what grandparents do, straighten out the
young ones."When it was all over, Smith not surprisingly declared Cheney the
winner."He finished awfully strong, which is different from what happened last
week (in the debate between President Bush and challenger John Kerry)," Smith
said. "What we heard from Edwards was basically spin, which is
unfortunate."Robert W. Dalton can be reached at 562-7274 or
bob.dalton@shj.com.