Vice President Dick Cheney (left) listens to Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards during their debate on Tuesday at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.(Photo: AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Thursday, October 7— With new polls showing the presidential candidates locked in a dead heat, their running mates faced off in their first and only debate Tuesday night. Vice President Dick Cheney and Senator John Edwards went head-to-head on the war in Iraq, terrorism, and a number of domestic issues.

It didn't take long for the tone of the debate to turn feisty. When moderator Gwen Ifill directed her first question to the Vice President, Cheney defended the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Insisting that the world is a safer place today because of Saddam Hussein's removal, Cheney said he would do it all over again if he had to. Edwards responded with some sharp words, accusing the Bush administration of misleading the American public about the Iraqi war.

Unlike President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry, who argued at the podium, the vice-presidential candidates squared off while sitting at a table with Ifill, a senior correspondent with PBS's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. And while the presidential debate was limited to discussions about foreign policy and national security, Tuesday night's event covered a broad range of issues. In discussions about Afghanistan, Cheney cited the upcoming presidential elections as proof that the country was headed in the right direction. Edwards, in turn, accused the Bush administration of "getting it wrong" in Afghanistan, claiming that the U.S. didn't finish the job when it had the chance to capture Osama bin Laden.

When the conversation turned to domestic issues, Cheney boasted about a 40 percent increase in funding for education under the No Child Left Behind Act. Edwards countered, accusing the Bush administration of not providing enough money for school districts to carry out the Act's requirements.

While the vice-presidential candidates stuck to the issues for most of the evening, the conversation turned personal at one point. Cheney, a 30-year political veteran, cited Edwards's lack of political experience.

"Your rhetoric, Senator, would be a lot more credible if there was a record to back it up," he said. "There isn't."

Edwards quickly defended his brief career in the Senate. "One thing that's very clear is that a long resume does not equal good judgment," he said. "I mean, we've seen over and over and over the misjudgments made by this administration."

Predictably, both camps claimed victory, insisting their candidate had won the 90-minute debate. Voters' reactions, however, were mixed.

"I heard far more definitive answers than I heard from the previous debate between our presidential candidates," said Paul Jacobs of Ohio. "I still heard too much 'he said, she said, you said' accusations, but there were some definitive answers to specific questions."

Before Tuesday night's debate, Democratic strategists were hopeful that Edwards would deliver the same kind of performance that Kerry did in last Thursday's first presidential debate. Most political experts agree that Kerry won the debate, and polls show that he has since chipped away at Bush's lead.

The presidential candidates will reunite Friday night for their second debate in St. Louis, Missouri. During a town-hall forum, they will answer questions from undecided voters on a variety of issues. Bush and Kerry will meet for their third and final debate on October 13 in Tempe, Arizona, where they will discuss domestic issues.