One thing that I thought was demonstrative happened right at the very beginning.
I forget what the question was originally about, but on rebuttal Edwards came out swinging about Iraq not having ties to Al Qaeda. The problem was, Cheney hadn't mentioned it, and the question wasn't related to it. It was like someone had told Edwards "Try to work this in as early as possible..."
I saw numerous times where Edwards used his rebuttal time to backtrack to other questions or bring up totally different matters. Later, he jabbed Cheyney about talking about education when he had made it the centerpiece about his reply concerning the economy.
I saw Cheney light on his feet, dealing with things in his own words, keeping the bumper sticker rhetoric to a minimum, and Edwards kept hammering on items he had worked in edge-ways.
I don't know if it was a rout, but I think the overall picture of the two left Cheney looking much better as a leader, and Edwards much better as a lawyer...