Many important questions were raised during last night’svice-presidential debate. Which candidate would be tougher onterrorism? How should America deal with the situation in Iraq? Whatabout the economy? Each vice-presidential candidate had his ownanswer for these questions.

But Ed Board thinks that one of the most important questions ofthe debate went unaddressed and unanswered: What was John Edwardswearing on his lapel?

Dick Cheney was obviously wearing some kind of American flag pinon his lapel. You could tell by the shape. But Edwards was wearingsome kind of round pin, dark in the center with a light, possiblygold, ring around the edge. What was this pin? None of the camerasfocused on him during the debate were zoomed in close enough totell, and none of the photos show the lapel in enough detail tomake it out. So what was it?

Let’s not worry about “who won the debate” or”which candidate handled himself better,” or any ofthat other insignificant claptrap. If you ask 50 people what theythink happened during the debate, you’ll get 50 differentanswers. Ed Board is more concerned with the specifics, the areasthat go unnoticed by other, less observant spectators. Like themystery pin on Edwards’ lapel, for instance.

After the furor that erupted on the Internet over the”mystery object” that Kerry pulled out of his pocket atthe beginning of the first presidential debate (it turned out to bea pen), Ed Board wants to be very thorough with any sign ofpossible improper behavior by a candidate. Did Edwards’mystery pin give him an unfair advantage over Dick Cheney?

Perhaps it was a pentagram, in the hopes that tapping the powerof Lucifer, prince of darkness, would give him unholy rhetoricalpowers. Or maybe it was a lucky charm, blessed by leprechauns andimbued with magical properties intended to sap Cheney’s willto debate. Or maybe Edwards knows something we don’t andstuck a chunk of kryptonite on his jacket. It is a mystery, and theDemocrats aren’t talking.

Ed Board believes this issue cannot be simply swept under therug. We refuse to be misled or distracted by the partisansmokescreen created to pull our attention away from the dark orbaffixed to Edwards’ lapel. “Lapelgate” is boundto become the determining factor in the upcoming election.

When it comes to choosing a candidate to vote for, Ed Boardstrongly encourages all voters to look closely at where thecandidates stand on the issues, and while they’re at it, takea close look at their lapels, too.