Sabato: ‘Cheney Has Blown It’

NewsMax ^ | July 14, 2004 | Carl Limbacher

[Kaslin]

Vice President Dick Cheney has destroyed himself and is creating a mess for President Bush, says one of the nation’s premier political analysts.

Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, offered the cutting assessment in his online analysis "Crystal Ball.” Even though John Kerry hasn’t received the usual bounce after naming his running mate, Sabato writes in his latest newsletter that the Democrat campaign "has put George W. Bush in a box with the selection of John Edwards. And there is probably no way for Bush to win this part of the presidential battle.”

"To put it bluntly, Cheney has blown it,” the straight-shooting Sabato wrote.

He continued: "One would have expected a classic Washington establishment insider to know how to keep his reputation intact through innumerable controversies -- calling the ‘right’ people here, consulting the ‘wise’ men and women of D.C. there, taking the puffed-up press poobahs of the Capital City to lunch at the White House here and there.

"Anybody recall how Henry Kissinger came out of the Nixon sleaze and the Vietnam disaster smelling like a bouquet of yellow roses--at least with the bunch that counts in D.C. and New York--despite the fact that he was in both situations up to his eyeballs?

"Instead of being Kissinger, Cheney has been Nixon in the Bush term. He has hunkered down in the White House and ‘undisclosed locations.’ He's been uncommunicative with the broader public and unconcerned about his image until it's too late. He's often appeared to be the sinister puppeteer, pulling Bush's strings on critical matters like Iraq.

"He's more associated with the Halliburton scandal than anything else in the public mind. And most importantly from a political standpoint, Dick Cheney is now seen as a rigid ideologue, unconcerned about facts that do not fit into his preconceived notions of the world, too closely tied to the far right and too unacceptable to the voters as a whole to be what he once was: workable standby equipment, a potential president who could take office with popular support.

"In short, Cheney has failed his president and become a significant liability.”

Despite all of Edwards’ flaws – his "single term of office in the Senate has been remarkably undistinguished, noted mainly for his overweening ambition,” and he has "a left-wing voting record and a shockingly low attendance record on roll call votes that would make any serious senator blush with embarrassment,” this extremist but telegenic lightweight looks good in comparison with Cheney, Sabato says.

He notes something NewsMax has already pointed out: the media establishment’s enormous hypocrisy in gushing over Edwards even though it attacked the far more experienced nominee Dan Quayle as being too green for the office.

"Be that as it may, there is a deeper story here: The thin resume of Edwards looks so much better because the thick resume of Cheney now looks so bad.”

He concludes Bush is stuck.

"The streets of Washington's political district are filled with rumors and scenarios where Cheney disappears from the GOP ticket. Yet if Bush drops Cheney, the party conservatives -- ever sensitive to a slight -- will wail and gnash their teeth, threaten to go fishing on Election Day, and ruin any bounce Bush might get from a substitute veep.

"If Cheney wants Bush to win, he might want to help the process along by stepping aside. Have you stopped laughing yet? We all know that Cheney still labors under the illusion that he is a plus for Bush, and if doubts ever occur to him, the addiction of the power and the glory of high office acts quickly to banish the thought.”

[McGruff]

Here's more proof the dems are panicking.

Hear the Rumor on Cheney? Capital Buzzes, Denials Aside

BY ELISABETH BUMILLER

ASHINGTON, July 14 - In the annals of Washington conspiracy theories, the latest one, about Vice President Dick Cheney's future on the Republican ticket, is as ingenious as it is far-fetched. But that has not stopped it from racing through Republican and Democratic circles like the latest low-carb diet.

The newest theory - advanced privately by prominent Democrats, including members of Congress - holds that Mr. Cheney recently dismissed his personal doctor so that he could see a new one, who will conveniently tell him in August that his heart problems make him unfit to run with Mr. Bush...


Cheney/Who Ever 2008

[Reagan Man]

>>>That's right - but W. wouldn't have to 'dump' him if Cheney faked a heart attack and stepped aside for health reasons. He has already had four heart attacks, so the excuse would be believable.

You were actually serious about this when you brought it up to me last night. This is one of the silliest things I've ever heard on FR. Someones taken over your body. You can't be ambrose.

[AmishDude]

Welcome back. Haven't seen such a "die hard Republican conservative" as yourself in a while.

You only say all of this because you fear Cheney.

FEAR HIM!

[Cableguy]

Well, I know enough to know that Dick Morris got Clinton elected in 1996. And Dick is right in that Cheney should be dumped, replaced by McCain or Powell.

So Bush loses you. Big deal. He will get lots more votes.

[okie01]

...all this hollering and moaning won't change the President's mind, imo. If it does anything it most likely makes him more resolute to his committment to VP Cheney.....

All it does is demonstrably prove how desperately the Dems want to see Cheney out of the picture.

If they weren't scared spotless of what Cheney will do to the Puppy, they wouldn't be spreading all these rumors and gossip.

Gravitas beats pissias every time.

[FreeReign]

"Instead of being Kissinger, Cheney has been Nixon...

I didn't know Larry Sabato was an airhead. Who wants Cheney to be freeping Kissinger?

The WOT is going well and most likely Cheney is a big part of it.

[jwalsh07]

OK, you stick with the toe sucker and McNut.

I'll stick with Bush/Cheney and my conservative compadres.

Then we'll all be happy.

[Plutarch]

WWRD? Ronaldus Maximus would do what was neccessary for the cause. If someone in the Administration became a liability he was gone. The faces changed, but the agenda was advanced. Cheney needs must go.

[ArmyBratproud]

Sebato is wrong. And others who keep screaming for Cheney to go are usually of the following:
A) Liberals who know that Cheney's experience and straight talking ways are respected by many and actually poll well.
B) Some Republicans who have been duped by the liberal screams (which is part of the liberals intent while screaming) and should no better but are too easily fooled by bells, lights, and "what is popular on tv".

The liberal media is more than happy to harp on the idea on Cheney not being on the ticket.

[Interesting Times]

It's worth keeping in mind that before taking out Nixon, the leftists first made sure Agnew was out of the way...

[Torie]

Guys, wouldn't it helpful if there were some polls that showed that Bush replacing Cheney would cause his numbers to get a bounce? I have not seen any such polls. Even if they exist, then the issue is whether the bounce would have staying power. Folks are not going to vote for president based on the veep, unless they think the veep is unqualified, and even then, if it becames rather apparent teh veep is unqualified, it still does not make much difference. Look how harmless Dan Quayle proved to Bush senior in 1988, and in 1988 Quayle did an excellent job in suggesting one should have serious doubts as to whether he was up to the job. JMO.

[handy]

VP spots won't really matter much in this race. Dropping DC would be a major error. The press would just go nuts over it for weeks. DC is a great VP and will do well in the debates. Keep him and keep hammering JFK's flip flops.

[LisaMalia]

Dear Mr. Sabato,

I think our president said it best, when asked the diffence between Edwards and VP Cheney.

Cheney could be president.

P.S. Edwards looks a guy I ditched when he tried to get to second base with me on promnight 1974....:)

[AmishDude]

This is coming from the Dems. Cheney will look like a wise father compared to Edwards. The only important roles a VP plays are as attack dog and in the debate "I knew shyster lawyers, I was friends with shyster laywers . . ." and Cheney is a formidable force when compared to Edwards in the post 9/11 world. Check the tagline.

[NYC Republican]

There's no way he can dump Cheney now... For better or worse, they're a team. It would look desperate to replace him now...

Having said that, I'm EXTREMELY disappointed with Cheney's performance, and have been for several months. Anyone who's read my post knows that I'm FURIOUS that Cheney hasn't responded to SCUMBAGS like Kennedy, who brazenly call President Bush a liar, and charge that the President created the war purely for political gain...

Think about that for a second... If Kennedy claims, as he did, that President Bush told lie after lie after lie, and no one really challenged it, then a huge segment of the populace believes that 800 deaths are political, that over $100 billion has been spent on a phony war, that tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed for nothing... etc etc etc...

Think about the morale of the troops... Think about the damage to our military with respect to future recruits - they won't want to enlist- PERIOD... The Dems have politicized the war, and no one challenged these scumbags on it...

Look at the way Breck Girl defends SKUMBAG SKERRY, and vice-versa. Look at the way Gore defended Klinton at every opportunity... There was a rapid-fire response at every opportunity... Where has Cheney been? Where has Frist and Hastert been? Cheney came out every couple of months to preach to the choir, and went back into hiding...

Whether he was unwilling to actively support President Bush against the attacks, or he was gun-shy about the Haliburton charges, he caused a great deal of damage to President Bush, and by association, the GOP movement.

I blame President Bush's sinking poll numbers on the lack of a coherent response to the lib/Dem scum attacks... I've been saying this for the whole year - right from the debates on (when the Dems lied about everything under the sun and the GOP was MUTE) until now...

It's almost as if the Dems are blackmailing the GOP- telling them that they had better not challenge their shrill behavior or they'll blow the whistle on whatever they have... At least then, we'd understand the lack of a GOP response... BTW- if ANYONE can tell me why we haven't blasted Kennedy yet for his remarks, I'd greatly appreciate it...

BTW, Larry Sabato's analysis here isn't all wrong... He's wrong on replacing Cheney, but right on most of the rest, IMHO.

[handy]

And Dick is right in that Cheney should be dumped, replaced by McCain or Powell.

IMHO dropping Cheney for McCain would cost Bush votes.

[McGruff]

So Bush loses you. Big deal. He will get lots more votes

and he loses me and his whole conservative base.

[Mr. Silverback]

Only those that have been lying in the ER with the pain in their chest know how true that statement you've made is......

I had a dive emergency once. Let out a breath, went to inhale and got nothing from my regulator, as if someone had plugged the hose. Fortunately I was only at 35 feet and I was able to avoid panic and do a quick ascent. But it felt like I was 3 stories underwater unable to breathe for about ten minutes. Once you've gone through something like that, it gives you new perspective, and the shock I went through is probably nothing compared to a heart attack.

[A Citizen Reporter]

"It's worth keeping in mind that before taking out Nixon, the leftists first made sure Agnew was out of the way..."

Very intereting point.

I believe that the President would take the media's advice and dump Cheney, about as much as I believed that he'd take the media's advice and pull out of that quagmire known as Iraq.....er, or was it Afghanistan.......

[CT]

I like Cheney, but worry about 2008.

Then there is the question of the Bush bumper sticker I just got from the GOP: W-04!

Where's Cheney????!!!