In 2004, there was speculation in some circles that Bush might drop Dick Cheney from the ticket in order to sure up broader support in advance of the presidential election. On April 27, 2004, a reporter at a White House press briefing asked Scott McClellan, “just for the record,” whether the president “continues to have confidence in Vice President Cheney.” McClellan seemed annoyed by the very idea.
“Of course. Of course. I don’t know why you would even ask that question.”
Oddly enough, McClellan was asked the same question, almost word for word, this morning. It wasn’t nearly as preposterous this time around.
Q: Does the President have confidence in the Vice President?
McClellan: The Vice President is doing a great job as a member of this administration and the President appreciates all that he is doing.
I’m hesitant to overanalyze a simple question and response (who am I kidding, no I’m not), but I have a couple of quick observations about this.
One, you might notice that McClellan never actually used the word “yes” (or a related synonym) in response to the question. In 2004, asked if Bush had confidence in Cheney, and McClellan said, “Of course,” and dismissed any suggestion to the contrary. This morning, it was a far different response.
Two, this is the second time in as many weeks that McClellan wouldn’t respond with a simple “yes” when asked about the president’s confidence in key White House officials. Today it was Cheney; last time it was Karl Rove.
Yesterday, the New York Daily News reported that Bush is “casting blame all about.” Might that include Vice and Turd Blossom?