Posted on 05/14/2004 1:22:55 PM PDT by Choose Ye This Day
THIS PICTURE JUST IN: BUSH DUMPS CHENEY FOR GIULIANI! by Matt Miller
May 12th, 2004 The photos from Abu Ghraib are horrific, no question, but there's an even scarier picture that my wife and I have started obsessing over in recent days. The real issue isn't whether Bush will dump Rumsfeld. It's Bush's secret plan to dump Dick Cheney.
Here's how we see it. The conventional wisdom at this point is that Cheney is on the ticket. Sure, there was that flap a few months back about whether Bush would dump him, but this notion was shot down repeatedly by the president, by Cheney and by every White House aide who matters. So the assumption across the land is that Dick is in.
But what if that was all a ruse, designed to lull us into a false sense of complacency? Here's how the plan would unfold. As part of Karl Rove's strategy, the Republican Convention is extraordinarily late this year, from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2. Rove is planning to get a big hit of momentum, bolstered immediately by the 9/11 anniversary, and then ride the wave for seven weeks to the vote.
Now suppose, in a move that catches the press and the public utterly by surprise, Bush dumps Cheney (after the usual glowing tributes) at the convention. He cites the veep's health, credits his service, blah blah blah. What happens?
Cheney is the lightning rod, the shock absorber, the Prince of Darkness whose public sacrifice will absorb a healthy chunk of swing voters' angst and anger over the Bush administration's sins and omissions in Iraq, its war on the environment, and more.
It's a political exorcism for the ticket!
Who would Bush then announce as Cheney's replacement in the next breath? If he could get Colin Powell and have Republicans boast the first black man on a national ticket, it would be awesome - but that seems too improbable, given tensions over the run-up to and conduct of the war, not to mention Powell's independent stature. Condi Rice looks good on paper - but she's not credible as a potential president should something happen, and she's been tarnished by the whole Richard Clarke dust-up.
My wife is convinced it's Rudy Giuliani - "Mister 9/11" himself! He's attractive and energetic, tough on crime and security, and was a great mayor to boot. He's a moderate on social issues, broadening Bush's appeal. And he's ambitious, so he'd take it.
Best of all, there's too little time between the convention and vote for the press to delve into all that unpleasantness that might outrage the GOP's "family values" base (although I'm told that when a Republican official's marriage breaks up in a messy tabloid affair, that's apparently OK, even if the mayor in question thereafter decamps from Gracie Mansion into an apartment populated by two gay men and a shih tzu).
If Bush does this, the media will literally go wild. Rove knows it will easily take two weeks for the press to even digest it, during which time we'll have wall-to-wall talk of Bush's boldness, endless chewings-over on how the decision was made, and glowing profiles of Rudy.
Talk about shock and awe!
From Bush's point of view, here's the beauty part: Cheney can still be co-president if Bush gets elected this time. Bush can call him "counselor to the president," and Cheney will have the exact same role he has today. Nothing about how Bush actually governs needs to change. It's just a fabulous brand re-launch.
So this is the scenario that has my family up at night. And it's not just us. Every Democrat we run this by immediately turns pale and screams some variant of "Ohmigod, it's over!" That is, once they stop emitting low guttural moans with Joseph Conrad's eternal tribute to the depth of potential human awfulness on their lips: "The horror! The horror!"
The picture is indeed sickening. And if we're right, the premium on John Kerry naming an "exciting" VP just got a lot higher. But who meets the threshold? John McCain, obviously. Hillary, but she won't. Those are the only two we (and every Democrat we know) can think of.
Help!
The pictures out of Iraq are awful, and we need to muster a deep national response to even begin to make it right. But let's focus also on this Bigger Picture. Somebody better do something! You heard it here first.
There's been too much turnover in the administration. This is all just a waste of cpu-cycles.
mini-me needs to find someone who wants to be prez in 2008 to put in as veep. someone to groom, much like slick willie tried to do with igor.
else 2008 will be the year of the hildebeast.
Here's one man's opinion....even if Cheney had to step down for medical reasons...which would, and should be the ONLY reason he doesn't run again...and you could ignore the "leeeetle " problem of a pro-chice, pro-gay agenda" person being ONE heartbeat fro the Oval Office, IMHO, Laura Bush would never agree to Judy Guiliani being on the ticket...That woman's got a lot of baggage..
True, but I think it shows the mindset and delusional thinking of the Left right now: This guy thinks the Bush ticket needs a "political exorcism." Middle America thinks no such thing.
Although it is a bit far-fetched, it would be very interesting to see that happen. I think Cheney is great, and possibly the greatest VP in history but to the pollsters he may not be. I dont think the administration would pick Giuliani though. Maybe Powell or Condi even.
However, if the left wants to worry themselves into high blood pressure territory imagining this scenario, it won't bother me one bit. If they think that Karl Rove is able to do this, they will waste their time thinking up strategies to combat it.
Condi and Dick could just swap jobs!
This would raise Condi's stature even more for her presidential bid against the hildabeast in 2008!
If Bush dumps Cheney I want him to bring Colin Powell in as VP. Now THERE'S an unbeatable GOP ticket . . . but Giuliani wouldn't be bad either. It's not that I don't like Dick Cheney. Oh, now that I think of it . . . Lynn Cheney would make a great VP candidate also.
I agree, Cheney isn't going anywhere.
But if we were going to change the Veep slot, I'd nominate a War Democrat like Zell Miller or Joe Lieberman. A Lieberman nomination would be particularly amusing -- the ultimate insult to Al Gore!
I would not like to see Cheney dropped and I think this is all silliness ... but if it were to happen, it would not dissuade me from voting for Bush, the stakes right now are too high for me to get into a snit about who the Veep is.
Colin Powell will not be around for long, I see hime leaving.
Dr. C. Rice
So many people have talked about a Kerry-McCain ticket that they haven't noted that Zell Miller is perfectly positioned to be a crossover VP candidate the other way. I still think it's Cheney all the way (and rightly so), but Miller might be one of the better choices out there if a replacement is ever needed.
The person I'm keeping my eye on is Andy Card. If Cheney leaves the VP spot, there's no way he'd leave the administration (he's got too much power, and too much vested), so the logical spot to move him would be to COS. And if they want to use Cheney's health as a motivating factor, then they could claim that COS would be a less-stressful position. So Card leaves for greener pastures, Cheney moves to COS, and someone else comes in as VP. Anyway, that's my $.02.
Rice would make a great Condidate. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist)
What the lefties simply can't understand is that when George Bush says something, he really means it. Folks on the left have never had experience with that kind of person. It does not compute to them.
I hope Cheney stays on. If, for health reasons, he CHOOSES to step down, then I've always wanted Condi to be VP.
People on this thread have suggested Zell Miller, and that's intriguing also.
Thoughts? - just hopes. Cheney is going to resign, Hagel will be appointed and he will fire Rummmy. Bush goes on to win big.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.