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Should Bush ditch Cheney?

evil sutko

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Former GOP senator Alfonse D'Amato says yes.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - President Bush should consider dumping Vice President Dick Cheney from the Republican ticket this year, an influential former GOP senator said Wednesday.

Alfonse D'Amato said Bush should consider putting Secretary of State Colin Powell or Sen. John McCain of Arizona on the GOP ticket.

There was no immediate comment from the Bush-Cheney campaign.

Bush has long maintained he wants Cheney to be his running mate.

The D'Amato advice came one day after Bush's Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry, announced he had selected Sen. John Edwards to be his running mate.

"Let me note that Vice President Cheney is a decent, honorable, and patriotic American, a man of great intellect, who has served the president and the nation with dedication," D'Amato said in a statement released by his office. "But we should make no mistake, we are a nation at war with a vicious terrorist foe, and in war hard decisions must be made."

"As an observer of politics, I believe the president can guarantee his essential re-election by looking to several other notable individuals who would add a great dimension to his ticket as a running mate," the New York Republican added.
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There has been some speculation in Republican circles that this might happen if the ticket starts to sag. Cheney doesn't poll very well among independents, and his reputation as an experienced power-player doesn't hold the same weight as it did in 2000. Add the whole "F-bomb" incident and his stock isn't on the rise.

It would probably happen like this: a doctor issues a report saying that Cheney's cybernetic implants are running out of batteries, and it would be dangerous for his health to remain in office. Bush then picks a replacement without any apparent backstabbing or flip-flopping. Republicans bask in the glow of their now-important convention and try to convince everybody that they've done more than just slap another coat of paint on the old junker.

But I really have to wonder how well-connected D'Amato is. His first choice for VP would be Colin Powell... Apparently for a GOP consultant, he doesn't understand the dynamics of his own party very well. Colin Powell is about as lame-duck as you can get in the current administration- he's almost assuredly on his way out come January. The Republican leadership wouldn't allow that sort of thing to happen.

Ultimately, I think whether or not Cheney retires rests not with Bush, but with Cheney himself. And since he seems to be the ideological glue that holds these people together, I don't think he's going anywhere.
 
Given the scenario you’ve suggest that I find quite reasonable where Cheney could be replaced due to health reasons without suffering any negative ramifications, I think replacing him with someone like McCain would be an enormous asset.

He, McCain, has a lot of respect across the political spectrum, no small feat in this day and age, and I have little doubt his addition to the ticket would give it considerably more clout.

In a close election as this one appears to be at least so far it just might be enough to make the difference.

I’m not expecting it though.
 
Or perhaps Cheney should pick a new running mate.

You should've added a poll with only two options: is Cheney evil? ("Yes" and "
"Not Entirely")
 
from Blue Monk:
Given the scenario you’ve suggest that I find quite reasonable where Cheney could be replaced due to health reasons without suffering any negative ramifications, I think replacing him with someone like McCain would be an enormous asset.
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The good old "health" ticket has always been there, but McCain? What are you on? I'm sure this subject has been very seriously mulled-over by Rove and his evil hordes. Now they know the opponent they've probably got a favoured secret weapon to bring on. I can't see Cheney going into it, unless he's a real megalomaniac (which I'm not dismissing). And Rove may be more powerful than Cheney when push comes to shove. Bush's input will matter as much as mine.

This is an opportunity to win an "I told you so" sticker for your exerise-book. Who will go in with Bush? For sanity's sake I don't know enough about US politics to make a guess.
 
Seeing as how McCain has repeatedly said he wouldn't accept the VP position for either party and that Bush trashed him unfairly back in 2000 (Bush's push polling "If McCain had an illegitimate black child would you be less likely to vote for him?") and he really doesn't seem to like Bush, I have a hard time believing he would join Bush on the ticket.
I also have a hard time believing that after 4 years of being marginalized as nothing but window dressing for the administration that Powell would want to take the VP slot either.
 
from Cain:
Or perhaps Cheney should pick a new running mate.
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You're in the "megalomaniac" camp, I see. If his health problems turn into actual death allofasudden - he DFO's, I think is the expression - I think we can assume he is.
 
Blue Monk said:
Given the scenario you’ve suggest that I find quite reasonable where Cheney could be replaced due to health reasons without suffering any negative ramifications, I think replacing him with someone like McCain would be an enormous asset.
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Given that McCain declined Bush's offer to be his VP in 2000, it's unlikely he'd accept in 2004.

Senator JOHN McCAIN (Republican, Arizona): I don't want to be vice president of the United States. I do not want to leave the Republican Party. I would not be vice president of the United States on either ticket. I told President Bush when he asked me in 2000 if I--if--when he asked me if I was interested.
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From The Early Show on CBS (3/18/2004), courtesy of Lexis-Nexis. Couldn't find a transcript on the web, but MediaMatters mentioned it recently.
 
from wjousts:
I also have a hard time believing that after 4 years of being marginalized as nothing but window dressing for the administration that Powell would want to take the VP slot either.
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Jane Fonda's out of the picture as well, but it's easy to say who it won't be. Anyone for Rush Limbaugh?
 
I don't think McCain is their first choice either. He's run afoul of the GOP leadership too much lately, and the Bush campaign's newfound alliance with him is more strategy than admiration.

Besides, they'll want an insider so as to keep the boat-shaking to a minimum. Think about it- they're already going to lose a lot of key people even if they win the election. If they want to stick to their current policies without a lot of messy debate, they'll have to choose somebody who is ideologically similar to Cheney.

That leaves Rice, but she sucks because a) she hasn't been a very good NS advisor by most standards b) she's never been elected to any public office.

Giuliani is too moderate and needs some gubernatorial experience or some time in Congress. Arnold would be a longshot. Maybe Pataki if they get in serious trouble, but he doesn't give that "evil puppetmaster" vibe that Cheney does.
 
I thought that Jesus was vice president? ;)

Giuliani would be interesting, but I think he has his eye on Hillary's Senate seat.

If Cheney gets dumped, then brother Jeb gets the nod! Just to really PO the Dems. :p
 
CapelDodger said:
The good old "health" ticket has always been there, but McCain? What are you on?
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Hey, if you have to ask you can't afford it, hehe.

I’m only speaking hypothetically, not on whether he would or whether he’d be asked.

We know how the right will vote and we know how the left will vote so the fight will be over the middle and in my opinion McCain would be an asset there.

If you don’t agree it would helpful if you said why.
 
Dumping Cheney would help Bush BUT he'd have to dump Ashcroft, Rumsfeld & Rove for his second term if he wants people to believe he has any of that alleged INTEGRITY he promised during his first campaign.
 
CapelDodger said:
from wjousts:
I just had a glance at Ann Coulter, reflected in my Sanity Shield which has taken a definite dent. You're not taking this altogether seriously, are you?
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Fear not! Coulter would NEVER do anything to hurt Cheney.


"Cheney is my ideal man. Because he's solid. He's funny. He's very handsome. He was a football player. People don't think about him as the glamour type because he's a serious person, he wears glasses, he's lost his hair. But he's a very handsome man. And you cannot imagine him losing his temper, which I find extremely sexy. Men who get upset and lose their tempers and claim to be sensitive males: talk about girly boys. No, there's a reason hurricanes are named after women and homosexual men, it's one of our little methods of social control. We're supposed to fly off the handle.” ----Ann Coulter
 
If D'Amato thinks it's a good idea, smart money says that it's a stupid idea.

D'Amato was one of the worst senators that this country has ever had. When I saw him in action on the Senate floor, I was actually ashamed of what I was viewing. (D'Amato had taken offense with being called "wacko" after doing something incredibly stupid.) D'Amato stood in stark contrast to Senator Jake Garn, who was a class act. At one point, Garn (making a veiled reference to D'Amato and others), likened some of the senators to a bunch of individuals who ran around with their fingers in the air, moving in whatever direction the political winds happened to be blowing at the time.
 
Thanks a lot for that ambush, Mel, I didn't avert my eyes quickly enough. Anyhoo, nobody's dumping Rove. Rove would dump Bush first (I'm thinking DFO from a condition picked up during his military flying days). Rove is the eminence grise. Work out who Rove has picked to put against Edwards, and you have your name. A woman with good hair, maybe?
 
CapelDodger said:
Anyhoo, nobody's dumping Rove. Rove would dump Bush first (I'm thinking DFO from a condition picked up during his military flying days). Rove is the eminence grise. Work out who Rove has picked to put against Edwards, and you have your name. A woman with good hair, maybe?
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I agree. Rove would kill Bush before walking out the door! :D

IMO, this administration stinks from every direction and even if Bush dumped them all..... we'd STILL be stuck with Bush..... a known liar & a president who admits he doesn't watch or read the news. (That would cut into his relaxation time.... sorta like those annoying PDB's?)
 
Blue Monk said:


We know how the right will vote and we know how the left will vote so the fight will be over the middle and in my opinion McCain would be an asset there.

If you don’t agree it would helpful if you said why.
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No, the fight isn't necessarily over the middle. It's who can bring out their base.

McCain would hurt Bush's base.

People want to vote for someone, not against someone.

I think Bush will excite his voters a lot more than Kerry will.

Bush wins easily.
 
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