# Dick Cheney endorses Harris **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** kamala-harris\ **Created:** [September 7, 2024, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881 "2024-09-07T01:25:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/62 "2024-09-07T22:44:42Z")
I’m pretty sure that Trump would never bring up the Cheney endorsement, though Harris might. It’s a reminder that traditional Republicans are siding with Democrats in denouncing him as a dire threat to democracy. I suspect the Cheney endorsement is driving him nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/63 "2024-09-07T23:10:17Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Nobody ever accused Cheney of being a traitor, either. Not quite true. I think many people thought that he was the force behind Scooter Libby outing Valerie Plame, which was pretty treasonous. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/64 "2024-09-07T23:35:09Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > She’s safe from the gambit of Trump bringing up Iraqi civilian deaths. Although, it would be something to hear a Republican address that. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/65 "2024-09-07T23:50:29Z")
Dubya not endorsing Trump or Harris. > **[Former President George W. Bush has no plans to endorse in the election](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/former-president-george-w-bush-no-plans-endorse-2024-election-rcna170055)** > > "President Bush retired from presidential politics years ago," his office said in a statement to NBC News. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/67 "2024-09-08T00:08:08Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I think Cheney and her father did this based on principle. They deserve recognition for doing the right thing at the same level of the complaints concerning the times they done the wrong thing. > Even if we’ll never be able to say that again about them they deserve credit for what they’re doing this time. Plus one. Even Bret Stevens, one of the Times’ Republican “balancer” opinion writers and a leading never-Trumper cannot bring himself to support Harris. He will spoil his ballot or vote Libertarian or something. It is not that I agree with Cheney on very much, but I think this is principled and some 4D chess. His daughter’s career is finished and they both know it. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/68 "2024-09-08T00:39:22Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > That was an [intelligence community failure](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/22/iraq-war-wmds-an-intelligence-failure-or-white-house-spin/), not deliberate W. lying. Accoording to your link, it was both: > The short answer is that both played a role. There were serious problems in the intelligence, some of which were relegated to dissenting footnotes. But the Bush administration also chose to highlight aspects of the intelligence that helped make the administration’s case, while playing down others. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/69 "2024-09-08T00:47:20Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Pence has said he won’t endorse Trump. He should come out and endorse Harris too, but I’m not holding my breath. I doubt that Pence will, because he’s still hoping his career in politics isn’t dead. Cheney is retired, and can do as he likes. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/70 "2024-09-08T00:48:07Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Nobody ever accused Cheney of being a traitor, either. Not quite true. I think many people thought that he was the force behind Scooter Libby outing Valerie Plame, which was pretty treasonous. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/71 "2024-09-08T11:35:15Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > > [@flurb](#): > > > > If Trump had any strategic sense, this could create an opening for him in the debate. “You said you were proud to have the support of Dick Cheney. Are you proud of what he did in Iraq? Are you proud of 5,000 dead Americans and hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, and Iraq is still a dumpster fire? What about his record makes you proud to have his support?” > > I think she’s safe from that gambit. Not only does Trump have no “strategic sense,” he has never shown the ability to lay out a coherent series of ideas, nor to remember that many facts that aren’t about him. Also, candidates aren’t going to be allowed to pose questions to one another. Sure, that can be worked around, but I don’t expect the America-hating fuckstick to have the mental agility to engineer an opportunity for such a workaround. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/72 "2024-09-08T17:43:15Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > But saying she’s “proud” to have his endorsement – that’s going to rankle some people in her camp. She can be proud to have captured such a wide array of support. Cheney may not be the most admirable military strategist, but he’s still a former VP; he’s not that guy who named his kid Adolf Hitler, and in the fallout of a birthday cake squabble, ended up losing the kid to CPS due to having firearms lying around the house when he had 3 small children. And even then, if Adolf’s dad said he was voting for her over Trump… I’d love a bumper sticker that said “Even neo-Nazis don’t trust Trump!” ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/73 "2024-09-08T18:00:09Z")
I heard George Will on the radio this morning state that for many “mainstream” republicans who don’t like Trump but who would struggle to vote for Democrat, Cheney’s endorsement might move the needle a bit. And a close election, etc., etc.,. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/74 "2024-09-08T18:00:38Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > But saying she’s “proud” to have his endorsement – that’s going to rankle some people in her camp. No one is going to win this election without rankling people in their camp. Trump does it repeatedly on abortion, and he is clever to do so. There need to be Sister Souljah moments. Harris’s biggest problem is too many voters who think she is too liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/75 "2024-09-08T18:02:26Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Harris’s biggest problem is too many voters who think she is too liberal. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/76 "2024-09-08T18:26:10Z")
Re cite request in last post: While somewhat relevant to the Cheney endorsement, I’m afraid this is not the best thread to get into this big topic. I probably will be getting to it elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/77 "2024-09-08T19:16:20Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1007125/24): > > I am banging my head against the coffee table trying to figure out why a former Republican Vice President, recognized leader of Neo-Cons, who has a following with a admittedly small part of of the electorate. Is not being welcomed as a good thing. > > I don’t give a fuck about policies implemented 2 decades ago. I want votes for Harris in 2024. ⁢ I don’t agree with the argument, but I understand it. Consider this: Putin has given his support to Kamala Harris. Now what would happen if Kamala Harris were to thank him for that and accept it? It could maybe help her gain some pro-Russian voters. But she would lose a whole lot more, because she’s implied that Russia and she share common goals. The same argument is here. Cheney is an evil war criminal. And any people you would gain would be offset by the people who will see her as sharing goals with this evil man. Why do I disagree? Because I think most people can handle the idea that Kamala appreciates the support, but in no way is she going to be in any way like Cheney. Anyone who would be upset enough about Cheney to not vote for Kamala is probably not voting for Kamala anyway. Now, if Kamala kept on crowing about it, the calculation would be different. But a bit of decorum towards a past VP and the unprecedented move works. And, as I’ve said before, framing is everything. And framing it as “Trump is so bad even Cheney is voting against him” is a very compelling framing. Moreso than “If Cheney supports her, Kamala must be really awful.” ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/78 "2024-09-08T20:25:20Z")
And since I’m one of (the only?) one in this thread whose thrown cold water on the endorsement, I’ll just clarify that I don’t think it really matters. I think the universe of Republicans who would vote for Harris because of Cheney’s endorsement is very, very small, as is the number of progressives who would not vote of Harris over this. I don’t think it’ll move independents at all. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably a wash. Mostly because endorsements almost never matter. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/79 "2024-09-08T20:40:46Z")
Every little bit helps. If just a few Republicans view this as a permission slip to not vote for the Republican nominee, then maybe it makes a difference. I’ve never been a Cheney fan and would never agree with him on things like taxes or abortion, but these are minor issues compared with the pressing need to preserve democracy. The Cheneys recognize this and have rightly prioritized what goes into their voting decisions. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/80 "2024-09-08T21:05:24Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’ve never been a Cheney fan and would never agree with him on things like taxes or abortion, but these are minor issues compared with the pressing need to preserve democracy. I don’t know his stances on taxes or abortion (though I assume that they are “laissez-faire” and “traditional”, and I oppose that), but that just pales in comparison to the fact that he has the blood of \>500.000 dead people on his hands in a unprovoked and unnecessary war (and unlike others here, I don’t differentiate between American and other people’s lives, their lives were wasted all the same), never mind the consequences that still bug the world 20 years after. ETA: and to stay on topic. Yeah, when even the devil incarnate reviles you, it should tell us something about Trump. But as always, he and his followers are too dumb and misled to make that any difference. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/81 "2024-09-11T15:56:45Z")
2 posts were merged into an existing topic: [Keyhotea Cornfielded Posts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyhotea-cornfielded-posts/1007125/17) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881/83 "2024-09-09T00:13:07Z")
Nobody is suggesting that Harris should embrace his policies or that this makes up for his time in office, FCOL. When Darth Vader picks up Palpatine and makes to throw him down an elevator shaft, you don’t trip him and yell “That’s for the Tantive IV!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dick-cheney-endorses-harris/1006881.md?page=5)