No wonder the NYT chose this squish as the second token conservative.
Actually, it would've been a third Rove-Cheney term wouldn't it?
I think it says volumns about America when we would elect a neophyte with almost no experience. But a man who has served his country in various capacities since the Gerry Ford presidency, but he was discounted because he was GW’s VP? The man has more brains in his little finger than Biden has in his whole brain.
Too bad the media created Bush derangement syndrome is as bad as it is. The saddest part of the ideal it is likely to be the death of the Republic.
This is in the NYT.
Was there a shift in the time continuum ???
I will buy the last edition of the New York Times.
It’ll be the first and only copy I ever purchase.
Imagine for a moment that the New York Times and anything said on its editorial pages was actually relevant......
The writer is basically an idiot. His underlying assumption is that if Cheney had run (and lost) it would have proved that conservatives can’t win elections.
Cheney would have lost because of his baggage, not because of his conservative principles, and this writer is an idiot not to be able to see that.
"Stress positions"?
Actually, do we really know what Cheney's economic views were? It didn't seem like tax cuts -- or spending cuts or anything else domestic -- were really a high priority for him.
It looks to me like what Douthat is saying is that if Cheney had run, the notion of "real conservatism" as something that hadn't been tried wouldn't be viable any more. But Cheney would have lost by more than McCain did -- which I guess is what Douthat would have wanted.
What Republican politicians is this fool talking about?
John McCain's idiotic, retarded daughter?
Cheney has been the most effective Republican politician since the Marxist African dictator, Comrade Obama, took over the reigns of power.
Dang, this guy is singing my song.
The prevailing wisdom was that no one would have voted for anyone from the Bush administration, so we had to go with McCain, the anti-Bush.
I think the opposite, that we needed someone who could give an articulate defense of basic common sense values, and that is something McCain could never do. Cheney, on the other hand, could do it, does do it every time he opens his mouth, and he makes it look easy.
Imagine if we had run an adult who actually understood economics, and energy policy, and foreign policy, and military policy... and could actually and forthrightly explain them and defend them.
It was a mistake to run away from Bush-Cheney, what we needed was Cheney unfiltered by Bush.
I know, I’m as worried about Cheney’s ticker as the next guy. But I don’t see anyone out there with Cheney’s grit and his gift for explaining and persuading and defending and for boldly getting things done. And no one can match him for experience and understanding of the way the world works.
So, still worried about his ticker? Team him with Hunter for VP. Bolton at State. Palin at Interior. Petraeus at Defense.
He’s got my vote today.
What a step up from McCain.
I wish Cheney had run. He would have lost, too, but casting that vote would have felt a lot better. And we would have gotten some good moments. I would have loved to see Cheney go against Obama in the debates.
As it was, I watched only a small part of the presidential debates, and only because I had a sense of history. Now, someday, I will be able to tell my grandchildren, “Way back in 2009 I watched John McCain debate Barack Obama. It was totally unmemorable.”
OK, after Swine Flu and terrorists nukes wipe out most of the Blue state populations, then maybe we we will get President Cheney.
Is that true? Or could it be that Cheney didn't care about economic or social or domestic issues and would have compromised on them the way that his mentors, Gerald Ford and GHW Bush did?
I don't know the answer, but it's certainly possible that people err in their assessment of what Cheney's views and priorities are. Isn't it often the case that politicians who give priority to foreign policy let other matters slide?
He wouldn't have won in any case, and the election wouldn't have been a referendum on conservatism. Other matters would decide the results. First, the economy. Second, Cheney's health. Third, his personality and unpopularity.