Being a regular at FR means that I already know Bush is taking a bull-by-the-horns policy stance on many fronts. Indeed, to my annoyance, he's pursuing an immigration policy I'm opposed to. For this reason, some uninformed sheeple reading TIME may find this article interesting.
What I found though, that was most exasperating, was something I've been banging my fist on the table over on many Threads over the last 6 months: This IS the 'line-of-succession' question. To my disappointment Krauthammer didn't answer this question in an article that was partially built around this very question.
I guess this is my biggest disappointment: He left it an open question and, like Bush, a vulnerability for 2008. In addition, many here on this Thread immediately jumped on the Condi bandwagon to this unresolved question. I'm not so sure about this for two reasons: 1) She's never held an elected office and 2) to my knowledge only 3 Secretaries of State have ever been elected President, one of which was Thomas Jefferson. Don't get me wrong here (as I said, Condi's smart) but is she on par with Mr. Jefferson?
Okay, theres my beercup. Flame-suit on.
Krauthammer is full of crap. This President and the Republican party will also be full of it if they don't ask Cheney to resign near the midterm election and install someone to become a successor. Part of the legacy of presidents is whether or not their VP gets elected. I DON'T and have never bought into this lame-duckedness BS either. The legislative branch is still up for re-election and they usually have to show something for it - or the president can call them all "do-nothing" and make his case directly to the people. Furthermore, on the foreign policy front, someone still has to man the helm (for example, Clinton was still tlking peace deal with Arafat and Barak at the end of 2000). Get it Kraut? But more importantly, I hope the White House gets it.
I'm sure not going to jump into the stands and pound you. ;)
Thank you for the elaboration. I'll keep an eye out for Mr. Krauthammer's next article. Hopefully he will follow up with his own 'line of succession' suggestions.
Condoleeza Rice has never run for any elective office, thus we don't know whether she has the fire in the belly to campaign.
She's an intellectual, not a politician. I don't think she'd take the VP slot, because I don't think she wants to be President.
My hunch right now is that Bush will pick McCain. He's not popular around here, and he'll be 70 in 2006, but he'd be a shoo-in in 2008.