And he never said he would vote for Biden in 2020, or Clinton in 2016.
I hope Bush is next.
Do I think endorsements matter? No. Can I see myself pointing to this endorsement in a discussion with a Trump-leaning friend or relative? Yes.
When was the last time a former VP endorsed a candidate from a different party? This seems like a Big Deal to me and it’s probably worth pointing out on her part that she has bipartisan support from some of the highest ranking Republicans alive.
I just don’t think that this will net her much more than one additional vote in Wyoming. Voters on the left despise him, and most Republicans have fully turned their backs on W’s Administration. I certainly don’t think that touting an endorsement by the architect of the Iraq War is going to help her firm up those progressives who are hesitant over her Gaza stance.
Teddy Roosevelt.
Republican Vice-President, 1901
Endorsed Progressive Party candidate for President (who happened to be himself), 1912
I cannot think of another example. Am I missing one?
Dick Cheney? RINO!!!
It’s not going to gain her any votes, but it may depress enthusiasm among “hold your nose and vote for the party rather than the man” conservatives. Every crack in the foundation helps.
Indeed, I’ve come to the the conclusion that the forecast models don’t give us much additional information. If the polls show one candidate way ahead of the other, the models show that candidate has a very high chance of being elected. If the polls are close, the models say it’s pretty much a coin flip. Both cases are obvious.
I am not an expert but I do think Cheney’s endorsement may have some effect. Imagine a Republican who doesn’t want to vote for Trump but is torn between voting the party line, voting for someone whose policies they completely disagree with or just not voting for a presidential candidate. Dick Cheney stating that he will be voting for Harris gives that person permission to oppose Trump by casting an affirmative vote for Harris rather than just not voting.
Or to not vote instead of holding his nose and voting for Trump.
Maybe it’ll have more impact than I anticipate. But the kind of Republican voters you cite have already had two elections where they’ve faced the same decision, and the vast majority of them have already figured out how they’ll respond to Trump on the ballot. I don’t think there are many for whom Dick Cheney’s blessing is the tipping point to start voting for the Democrat.
I mentioned before Teddy Roosevelt endorsing himself. But if that doesn’t count - John C. Calhoun supporting the Nullifier Party candidate in 1832.
It’s been a while.
I find them useful when they forecast a closer race than recent national polling would suggest – because this implies there are certain recent SWING STATE polls that are flat or getting somewhat worse, and occasionally I’m curious about which swing states we should be constructively concerned about.
But I do appreciate @iiandyiiii’s advice to not check too often, nor stress over minor fluctuations.
I agree. But I think the fact that Dick Cheney has made the switch is an indicator that there are some serious misgivings among old-school Republicans.
Apparently. But those misgivings aren’t solid enough to translate into action, so I don’t know how helpful they will be for the Dems.
Dick’s, yes. Liz’s, probably not since she was so prominent in the Jan. 6 hearings.
There’s an article about how Harris ran her office in the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/06/harris-veep-boss-management/
I don’t have sub, so I can’t see the full article. But I saw someone mention it and they included this clip:
It sounds like some of the staff issues that made the news in the past were because she had high standards and expected a lot from her staff. I’m guessing one factor might be that many of these jobs go to people with connections who may not have had to work very hard to get into those positions. They may not be used to having bosses which expect them to be prepared to that degree.
This makes me respect her more
That is some ludicrous criticism. Almost like someone wanted to make Harris look like a very sharp and effective leader with exceptionally high standards.
I can’t see the whole article, so I’m not really sure what tone it takes. But I do remember the issues with her office in the past. They way they were presented back then in the news was that she was hard to work with. But this clip makes it seem like the staff resented having to work hard. Perhaps they thought working in the VP’s office would be a cushy, resume-building stepping stone to bigger things. Then they got upset when she expected them to treat it with the proper gravity the job demands. One of my reservations about Harris taking over from Biden was from remembering the staff trouble she had. I was worried it was because she’s hard to work with. But it sounds like it’s because she expected excellence and the slackers got upset.
A gift link, in case you would like to see it: