A roundup of news articles about tonight’s Vice Presidential debate:

During what’s being dubbed by some as “the race for Case” — since the debate will be held at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio — Cheney and Edwards will appear in a town-hall style setting to answer a wide variety of questions that could include issues like the War on Terror, the war in Iraq, the economy, jobs and health care.

Interesting write-up on the comparisons between the two contenders:

At 51, Edwards is a boyish-looking Southerner holding his first elective office who relies on his skills as a former trial lawyer in gauzy campaign speeches and feel-your-pain encounters with voters. At 63, Cheney is a balding Westerner with a long government resume who has embraced the vice presidential nominee’s traditional attack-dog role with relish.

What can we expect from Edwards?

Edwards is expected to portray Cheney as the architect of a misguided Iraq policy that was based on the erroneous belief that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Edwards also is expected to criticize Cheney, the former chief executive of Halliburton, as a symbol of corporate greed.

And from Cheney:

[T]he White House is counting on Cheney to deliver a solid, steady performance to reassure Republicans shaken by Bush’s scowling appearance in last week’s leadoff debate with Kerry. The vice president is expected to paint Kerry and Edwards as lacking the resolve to lead the war against terror and keep Americans safe.

A little history, from the first VP debate in 1976:

At the Alley Theater in Houston on Oct. 15, 1976, Republican vice presidential candidate Bob Dole faced off against Democrat Walter Mondale. Walter Mears of the Associated Press asked Dole whether his 1974 criticism of President Gerald Ford, while running for a second Senate term from Kansas, for pardoning Richard Nixon might be appropriate in 1976 when Ford was running for president.

Obviously exasperated, Dole retorted that it was not “a very good issue any more than the war in Vietnam would be or World War II or World War I or the war in Korea, all Democratic wars, all in this century. I figured out if we added up the killed and wounded in the Democrat wars in this century, it would be about 1.6 million Americans, enough to fill the city of Detroit.

Well, tonight we apparently have a smooth talking trial lawyer going against an aging pit bull. Should be interesting.