Posted on 02/26/2004 8:05:56 AM PST by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) and other Republicans are rallying around Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) as they seek to quash rumors that Bush might ultimately replace Cheney on his re-election ticket.
Some pundits believe that if Bush is struggling in the polls a few months from now as the 2004 campaign moves into high gear, he might boost his chances for re-election by picking a running mate other than Cheney.
Helping to spur an already active Washington rumor mill was the Feb. 14 cover story in the National Journal which depicted a stern-faced Cheney standing next Bush.
"Just the ticket?" queried the headline. "Does having Dick Cheney as his running mate help or hurt George W. Bush in 2004?"
The article mentioned potential successors to Cheney such as former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (news - web sites) and Bush national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites).
At a Republican governors fund-raiser that marked the kickoff of his 2004 campaign, Bush gave a ringing endorsement of Cheney and in a joking way, alluded obliquely to rumors he might be mulling a change.
He quipped that he had put Cheney in charge of his vice presidential search committee, as he had originally done in the 2000 campaign.
"He tells me he's reviewed all the candidates, and he's come back with the same recommendation as last time," Bush said. "In fact, I made the choice myself, and I have taken the measure of this man. They don't come any better, and I am proud to have Dick Cheney by my side."
The National Journal article said there were "grumblings" among some Republicans who felt that removing Cheney from the ticket might be helpful to Bush because the vice president has been a key target of Democratic attacks for such issues as his past role as head of energy company Halliburton Co., the energy firm that contracts in post-war Iraq (news - web sites).
Cheney's negative ratings in public opinion polls regularly are the worst of anyone in the Bush administration.
DEMOCRATS MORE LIKELY TO BELIEVE RUMORS
There seem to be far more Democrats than Republicans, however, who buy into the rumors that Cheney might end up off of the Bush re-election ticket.
The scenario envisioned by some political analysts is that Cheney might bow out of the Bush-Cheney re-election race sometime before the Republican convention begins in late August.
The vice president, who has a history of heart trouble, could cite his health as a way to take himself out of the race without it appearing that he was pushed out, said Douglas Brinkley, a historian and author of a book at the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites)..
"If there's a feeling that if Democrats have momentum (ahead of the Republican convention), a shake-up will be in order and Cheney will, due to health reasons, resign," Brinkley said.
While opposition to Cheney may help energize the Democratic base, the flip-side is that he also spurs the base of his own party.
"There is a better likelihood that I will be abducted by aliens than that Cheney will get dumped from the ticket," said one Republican official, who called Cheney "indispensable" to the Bush administration.
Cheney, considered by many historians to be one of the most influential vice presidents in modern times, has had crucial roles in everything from helping to shape and sell Bush's tax cuts to advocating action in advance of the Iraq war.
He is frequently the White House's key liaison to Capitol Hill when sensitive issues arise, such as a deadlock during the fall over Bush's proposals to overhaul energy policy and decisions over whether to appoint a commission to investigate flaws in prewar intelligence on Iraq regarding weapons of mass destruction.
"I don't think he's an impediment in any way to President Bush's re-election prospects," said Gary Bauer (news - web sites), head of American Values, a group that advocates conservative social positions
How about GW just courts his base and then maybe the swing won't be so important.
Condi is more like Colon than she is like GW, so if GW picks Condi it will say a lot about his convictions.
You said it much better than I did.
Not only that, but Bush 41 was the first sitting VP to win the presidency since Martin Van Buren, if I remember correctly.
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