File this under “Consider the Source”:
I find this dubious, but I’m slightly tempted to give it a little bit of credibility considering it’s from a conservative news source. But, if it were true, I think this would be making a bigger splash than just this article. So, could this happen?
I doubt this report has any credibility, but as a Republican, there’s a part of me that would love to see it. It would certainly make the 2008 election interesting.
I do think there is a good chance of Cheney stepping down “for health reasons”. Cheney surely isn’t going to run for prez (and he’d NEVER win even if he did), so it would behoove the Pubs to get someone in that slot who will run. Could it be Rice? She’d certainly be on the short list, but there are some problems. She’s completely untried wrt being ELECTED to office, so she’d be a wild card in that key aspect. Personally, I think she makes more sense as a VP candidate in '08 than as a Prez candidate. There’s also the not so small “problem” of her being pro-choice. If you start hearing her talk about abortion in the next few months, coming dow heavily on the anti- side, that might be a sure sign of things to come…
Consider the source, yes, but it’s interesting. My main objection to it would be this: why would Cheney go through all the trouble of an entire second campaign if he only intended to serve about one year of the term?
A key theme was “stay the course”. If Cheney stepped down, it could easily be portrayed as Bush admitting he had made mistakes. You can’t risk that during a campaign. Well, you CAN risk it, of course, but someone like Bush wouldn’t.
H. Clinton v’s C. Rice.
I reckon the 3rd party candidate would have a shot 
Not that this will happen, but imagine a Powell/Rice tickets for the Pubs in '08. Under different circumstances (ie, no Iraq invasion) it could have happened. Cheney would bow out, be replaced by Powell. Rice still moves up to SecState setting the stage for '08. Of course there are those who claim Powell has some skeletons in this closet that would prevent him from running, plus there is the age factor for him. What a different Republican party that would be (assuming the relgious right wouldn’t go bonkers and field an independent candidate)!
Also Powell was quoted years ago as saying he had discussed the matter thoroughly with his family and had definitely decided to never seek a higher elected office.
Thank God for the religious right! The only way for the Democrats to counter that ticket would be to run an adorable baby fur seal. A pro-life, pro-gun, anti-gay adorable baby fur seal. With a spotless political record. And a congressional medal of honor for killing hundreds of terrorists. A pro-life, pro-gun, anti-gay, decorated war-veteran adorable baby fur seal with a spotless political record, who rose from humble begins to eventually own a highly-profitable chain of family farms in the midwest, but who hasn’t forgotten how to relate to the common man.
I’d love to see Rice run in 2008, if only because it’d give our lackluster media an impetus to spread the word about how she publically lied about pre-9/11 warnings.
(Ah, who am I kidding? Everyone will be too busy watching the Michael Jackson trial to give a toot.)
… and loves Jesus. Can’t forget Jesus.
Of course, I’m being serious. 
Can’t happen. The Constitution states that if the VP leaves office, the speaker of the House takes his/her job. That’s how Ford became the only unelected President of the US. (Nixon’s original VP resigned, Ford lost to Carter in '76.)
Not quite:
Bush can pick whoever he likes, as long as Congress agrees.
Um, nitpick, but Ford wasn’t “unelected”. He was selected by Nixon and elected by the House of Representatives after Spiro’s resignation. He wasn’t Speaker of the House, either, but minority leader.
I think that the President can nominate whoever he wants, regardless of office or indeed political affiliation, and as long as that person is confirmed by vote of the House, he’s VP.
Rice as a VP? I’ll believe it when I see it…but stranger things have happened.
Damn, I wish Powell would step up to the plate. He’d make an excellent alternative to the bobbleheads who keep running for executive office.
Stranger
Make that both houses (Reps. and Senate). And I believe (though I’ll leave the digging through the Amendments to some wonk who gets excited about this stuff) that whoever he selected does have to be able to legally hold the office of the President. In other words, not Schwartznegger or Mr. Clinton. He could pick Hillary (that would be a hoot) or H.R.Perot. (even funnier) or George Carlin (yes, yes, YES!)
Hey, I pick my candidates on entertainment value. I voted against Clinton, but in retrospect, I was wrong. That guy kept the comedians working overtime for eight years.
Stranger
What skeletons? Other than the My Lai rumors that have been pretty thoroughly discredited, I’ve never heard anyone claim Powell has “skeletons”. I’ve always heard that the only thing keeping Powell from running is he’s too intelligent to want the job. Republicans would love to see him run.
That would have been a strange way to read it. Cheney’s health problems were well-known and there was speculation he wouldn’t run for a second term in the first place. I guess the “mistake” would have been choosing Cheney? Since Cheney never differed from Bush on anything substantial and played a big role in shaping their policies, I don’t think that would have been how it was perceived.
It needn’t have been during the campaign, it could’ve been well before.
I guess it does make more sense to move the Secretary of State up to VP than it does to promote the National Security Advisor. Still, all these rumors about Cheney involve him being this completely altruistic person, and I think that’s unrealistic. The man has things that he wants to do himself, and I doubt he’s gone through all this trouble to leave things undone.
I’m sure he’d be a lot of Democrats’ first choice as a Republican candidate, but that doesn’t translate into universal acceptance among Republicans. See also McCain, John.
Given the way Powell was treated in Washington over the last four years, I think he’s telling the truth when he says he’s done for good. Who’d come back for a second helping of that?
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I can’t help but agree…but, damnit…I’d actually campaign for the guy, and I’m pathetically apathetic about politics.
It’s sad when we observe that someone is “too intellegent to run for President”.
There’s some satire in there, but I’m too tired to pull it out.
Stranger
Powell the Democrats’ first choice? He’s their worst nightmare - a candidate they have no chance of beating. Put Powell on the ballot and the Democrats’ campaign slogan will be “we’ll try again in eight years”.