The aspirants for the ’08 GOP presidential nomination started in earnest at the Republicans’ convention over the summer, but at least one prominent lawmaker is already aiming for the number two slot.
It’s not too early to start whispering about Sen. Elizabeth Dole’s moves to run for vice president, say friends. Allies claim she’s got enough votes to win the chairmanship of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which could propel the North Carolina senator into a run for veep in 2008.
For a variety of reasons, this isn’t surprising, the first being that Dole has been brazenly ambitious throughout her political career. But the second has to do with familial consistency.
I was born in 1973. In every presidential race in my lifetime, the Republican ticket has featured someone with the last name Bush or Dole. If Liddy Dole is successful in positioning herself for the VP slot four years from now, the GOP would make it nine for the last nine. Is the Republicans’ bench so weak that the party has to keep turning to the same two families every four years? Apparently so.
Hell, if Jeb runs and taps Dole as his running mate, we’d have the ultimate: Bush-Dole 2008 — The Lineage Ticket.