I’m convinced this is the best of both worlds. Dems don’t actually want Dick “Go F— Yourself” Cheney off the Bush ticket; the president could replace him with some qualified person who voters may like and respect. But Dems do want the rumors about Cheney’s departure to reinforce his unpopularity and undermine BC04’s broader message.
We’re getting both, thank you very much.
First, Cheney sounds unequivocal about staying on as Bush’s VP/running mate.
Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday he cannot envision any circumstance in which he would not run for a second term, saying President Bush has been “very clear he doesn’t want to break up the team.”
There has been persistent speculation that Cheney would step down for political or health reasons.
“He’s made his decision,” Cheney said of Bush. “I’ve made mine. I suppose right now, because we’re in the run up to the convention, people don’t have much to talk about so you get speculation on that. It’s normal. When we get to the convention, I think that’ll put an end to it.”
It’s amusing that Cheney thinks it’s “normal” for this kind of speculation to go on. There’s nothing normal about it. In the last quarter-century, the only serious gossip about a VP getting replaced was Dan Quayle in ’92 — and that was because he was widely seen as a drag on the ticket, just like our friend Dick is.
And, to add to the fun, the rumors are generating plenty of attention.
In the annals of Washington conspiracy theories, the latest one, about Vice President Dick Cheney’s future on the Republican ticket, is as ingenious as it is far-fetched. But that has not stopped it from racing through Republican and Democratic circles like the latest low-carb diet.
The newest theory – advanced privately by prominent Democrats, including members of Congress – holds that Mr. Cheney recently dismissed his personal doctor so that he could see a new one, who will conveniently tell him in August that his heart problems make him unfit to run with Mr. Bush. The dismissed physician, Dr. Gary Malakoff, who four years ago declared that Mr. Cheney was “up to the task of the most sensitive public office” despite a history of heart disease, was dropped from Mr. Cheney’s medical team because of an addiction to prescription drugs.
“I don’t know where they get all these conspiracy theories,” said Matthew Dowd, the Bush campaign’s chief strategist, who has heard them all. “It’s inside-the-Beltway coffee talk, is all it is.”
Well, that’s not all it is. This “coffee talk” is also a sign that Cheney isn’t well liked (especially compared to Edwards), has enormous baggage (Halliburton), and has a serious credibility problem (constant lies about the Iraq-al Queda connection).
If Cheney was a popular VP, admired by voters, there wouldn’t be such rampant speculation.
“He has come to be a polarizing figure who repels voters,” said Tad Devine, a senior adviser to Senator John Kerry. But asked if that did not make Mr. Cheney a dream candidate to run against, Mr. Devine demurred. “I’m not going to lob one in that direction,” he said. “I don’t want to be the Kerry guy who says ‘We want Cheney.'”
As an added bonus, the fact that Cheney has to actually deal with these rumors by shooting them down means less time for Cheney to articulate the Bush campaign’s actual message.
So long as the talk doesn’t actually drive Cheney from the ticket, it’s a win-win for Dems.