Would it make good political sense to dump the Veep?
Heck, chances are he won’t live to the end of thisterm, let alone next.
It seems to me much of the Anti-Bush sentiment could be defused by dropping Dick.
Or am I wrong?
Heck, nominate Connie Rice. That would mess with people’s heads.
I agree that Cheney has come to represent the oil business part of the Bush govt more than anyone else and his resigning (for health reasons of course) would greatly help Bush. (You can’t fire a VP that I know of).
Send Wolfowitz and Rice away and you might make Bush palatable.
I don’t think it would make a dime’s worth of difference. You either love them both or hate them both. Unless Bush dumped Cheney in favor of someone much to the left of himself, I don’t see a lot of difference in his support with or without Cheney.
It wouldn’t be firing Cheney, it would simply be not asking him to run on the re-election GOP ticket with Bush.
If that happens, Cheney is free to run again for his job, just as any pol is free to try for re-election.
Maybe he could team up with Joe Lieberman …
Would be very nice if he dumped Chaney.
I won’t hold my breath though.
According to the Gossip rags, there is speculation of Giuliani replacing Cheney on the ticket.
I think this would be a good move.
MeanJoe
Wow, that would be something.
The President certainly could fire a sitting VP if he wanted. It’s pretty much called ‘asking for his resignation’. I don’t think it’s been done but, even though the VP is an elected position, I don’t see how it couldn’t happen if a sitting VP cheesed off the boss enough.
People who want Bush in office will vote for him regardless of who’s second on the ticket. People who don’t want Bush in office will vote for someone else. I don’t see the person occupying the second slot on the Republican ticket making any difference.
Technically the veep does not work for the president. Cheney was elected by his own slate of electors and there is no obligation on his part to agree or disagree with the president on anything, or work with the president in any way. His sole constitutional obligation is to preside over the Senate. The president has no authority to fire a vice president. He can more or less shut him out of the decision loop, which was commonly done prior to the 1970s.
Interesting thought but I don’t see Cheney being dumped. Bush would have to feel mighty threatened for that to happen and even then I not sure he would do it. I think they feel pretty confident in their chances for re-election. Has this ever happened in the past?
There’s no reason to open that can of worms. Ditching a loyal supporter would only hurt you with your core constituency.
I think it’s high time we dump Carol Channing.
And Dick Cheney.
And Carl Rove.
Otto, you’ve got to wake up to reality a bit. The election never has been about those who will vote for Bush no matter what, nor has it been about those who will vote Dem no matter what. It’s all about the american middle. Those slack-jawed wishy washists who can’t seem to make up their minds about any damn thing. It is they who swing elections, and any little nudge one way or another may sway their vote in early November. How else can you explain the effectiveness of attack ads?
Yep, and if there’s one thing the Bush family is, it’s loyal. Look at how the old man stuck with Quayle even when he knew Dan was killing him.
Besides, what’s the point? Cheney’s driven a great deal of Bush’s policy. Much of the agenda is only partially complete. You think he’s going to change horses midstream?
Um, Dick Cheney runs the USofA. He runs the cabinet meetings, tells Dubya what stance to take etc. The most powerful person in the country cannot be fired. (Only impeached.)
However, given his health, it would be wise for him to suggest a replacement in this year’s election. No doubt another “ex” Haliburton exec, but still receiving “deferred payments”, from Texas with a mailbox in Wyoming.
It is an glaring example of how detached the administration has become from Republican politics that they don’t see the traditional value of a Veep who could be an early front runner in 2008, win or lose in 2004. Cheney for prez in 2008? He should live so long.
Nah. I despise Cheney and can tolerate Bush. I’d be more than happy to vote for someone else that can manipulate Bush’s strings. I think a lot of people see Cheney as the epitome of where business and government shouldn’t meet.
Gee, Rudi Giuliani? I would have never thought of him.
Ethnic, northeast, well-liked, tanned and well-rested. Beats the heck out of Connie Rice.
FDR ‘fired’ his pacifist Veep. John Garner (He gave us the line ‘What have you done for me lately?’) and then the unremarkable Henry Wallace. He got to Harry Truman just in time.
Off the top of my head, I cannot think of anyone else.
Gee, Rudi Giuliani? I would have never thought of him.
Ethnic, northeast, well-liked, tanned and well-rested. Beats the heck out of Connie Rice.
FDR ‘fired’ his pacifist Veep. John Garner (He gave us the line ‘What have you done for me lately?’) and then the remarkable Henry Wallace (He invented the chicken, but that is another story.). He got to Harry Truman just in time.
Off the top of my head, I cannot think of anyone else.
I can relate- I despise them both, Cheney much more than Bush. I wish more people did see what you see in Cheney but I haven’t see any polling data that indicates any such widespread unpopularity. The neocons probably love them equally, and there are probably many more that like Bush and tolerate Cheney. Dropping Cheney from the ticket isn’t going to lose any neocon votes, it may gain a few moderates but there may be a lot of big business types that would be quite disapppointed to see Cheney go. All things considered, I don’t see a lot of movement if he were to do so.
As much as I dislike Bush, he is loyal to a fault so it isn’t going to happen anyway, short of a Cheney health emergency.
Please excuse my double-post. The second one is correct.
Henry Wallace did a lot of pioneering work and is credited as one of the inventors of the chicken. By me at least.
I can’t imagine what the long term advantage to the Republican Party would be in keeping Cheney on the 2004 ticket. Just for the sake of discussion, if Bush is reelected, would they really consider running Cheney for president in 2008? Or are they willing to give up the incumbent’s advantage, and risk a primary slugfest? Or is Bush/Cheney so powerful they really don’t give a crap what the RNC thinks?