Posted on 05/13/2009 3:42:28 PM PDT by lewisglad
Enough, already. That's the reaction of many Republicans to Dick Cheney's surge of media appearances to defend the Bush administration, especially on national security issues. "I don't think anybody would call him and say, 'Shut up.' It wouldn't work," says a GOP strategist who formerly advised Ronald Reagan. "He obviously feels that his work as vice president is under attack. But he is not our best spokesman."
The concern among Republican strategists is that the public will think Cheney is speaking for the GOP, and this won't be helpful because the former vice president remains an unpopular figure across the country. Another prominent GOP strategist says Cheney should lower his visibility and give younger party leaders a chance to take the spotlight.
Meanwhile, White House officials are pleased that the abrasive Cheney is drawing so much attention. "The former vice president has made his views pretty clear, and the president has made his views pretty clear," an Obama adviser said today. "We had a big debate on this during the campaign, and the president sees it as a debate that has been resolved because the American people spoke so clearly [in the election]."
Cheney's reasoning for going public has become a favorite topic on the political circuit in Washington. Some of those who know Cheney well say he is motivated by a desire to defend his legacy as a principal architect of George W. Bush's national security policies that are under attack from the Obama administration and congressional Democrats—especially the waterboarding of suspected terrorists that President Obama has defined as torture.
Cheney is said to genuinely believe that Obama is taking the wrong approach on national security, leaving America weaker. He is also angry that former Bush advisers may be prosecuted or face disbarment or legal censure because of the advice they gave internally to justify waterboarding. Cheney is described as deeply disappointed that President Bush didn't pardon Lewis Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, after Libby's conviction for misleading prosecutors trying to investigate leaks. (Bush did commute Libby's 30-month prison sentence.) And Cheney doesn't want other Bush advisers to be punished for, in his assessment, simply doing their jobs.
The former vice president stirred the pot Sunday in a CBS interview, arguing that "enhanced interrogation techniques" such as waterboarding did not represent torture. The former vice president said that such methods were legal and that they generated important intelligence on terrorist activities. He argued that Obama's reversal of some of those policies made America less safe. Yesterday, in an interview on Fox News, Cheney repeated his criticisms. A week from tomorrow, Cheney is scheduled to address the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. His topic: "Keeping America Safe."
***** “If the choice is Cheney or Steele, I’ll take Cheney” ******
Beat me to it
TT
Names? I’d settle for the address of the phone booth they’re caucusing in.
What are these “Republican Strategists” the article speaks of?
Someone from the House of Representatives or a Governorship will have to step up and assume the leadership of this party, and quickly.
The Bozos in charge of the GOP now remind me of the Scottish Lords in the movie ‘Braveheart’. They show up on the battlefield at Stirling, and their first inclination is to ‘negotiate’ with the English....then...along comes William Wallace and upsets the applecart. (Forget that the movie was pretty inaccurate historically...it was a good lesson in how politics works).
These A-holes don’t even realize that Dick Cheney IS theor best spokesman.
He has single handedly shown how to strike fear into the hearts of FUBO, FUNP, FUHR, FUDD,FUJR, etc.
Dick Cheney is WHY FUBO has changed his mind on the torture photos.
These GOP strategists show why we conservatives better show them who is boss, otherwise the GOP will henceforth forever be a minority power.
IF FUBO wants to release the torture photos, then I want the photos of our 4 murdered American POWs in the Iraq War released too. Americans should see what REAL torture looks like.
I wish there was a way we could let these “strategists” and party “leaders” know that we prefer Dick Cheney’s strategies and leadership to theirs.
Who do you hear other than Cheney speaking up about anything?
The RNC could Do a lot worse than having Dick Chaney as its spokesman.At least he believes in something.What does the RNC Believe in?
Cheney can speak for me anytime!
Yes indeed!
I thought Rush was already crowned as the spokesman for the GOP???
Let a real man like Cheney carry the ball!
gop strategist/oxymoron
I’ve really had it with the “GOP”.
Not one named source for the story.
I call bulls—t.
Ditto that!!
are these the same wonderful strategists who have driven the Republican bus off the road the last elections with their misguided, stupid advice? i for one want to hear Cheney say whatever he feels needs to be said. after all he knows what’s in the files - he knows what happened. no one else does. that is transparency i can believe in.
But he is not our best spokesman.
Sadly, he is our best spokesman, because he is willing to defend conservative positions. Graham and McCain are stumbling over each other to say yes we did torture people; and it was so very wrong; and we're very sorry and we'll never do it again; and please, please, please forgive us. Cheney is the only guy out there with courage to man-up, and say no we didn't torture people but we in the wake of September 11 did use waterboarding on three very bad men, and it averted at least one major attack on Los Angeles. And in the context of the September 11 attacks even Nancy Pelosi was briefed about it and was on board with it. Valuing the safety of the american people more than the approval of the intelligensia is a winning issue for Republicans.
GO CHENEY GO!!!
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