At an Alabama fundraiser for Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) earlier this week, Dick Cheney started his speech by telling the same joke he tells at all of his recent events. “Thank you,” the VP said over the applause. “A reception like that is almost enough to make you want to run for office again. (Dramatic pause) Almost.”
Today, the New York Sun ran an editorial arguing that this isn’t something Cheney should joke about — this is something Cheney should actually consider.
Mr. Cheney has virtues as a candidate in his own right. He has foreign policy experience by virtue of having served as defense secretary, and he has economic policy experience, having served as a leading tax-cutter while a member of the House of Representatives. His wife, Lynne, would be an asset to the ticket in her own right, a point made by Kathryn Jean Lopez in a post on the topic at National Review Online back in February. By our rights, Lynne Cheney would make one of the greatest First Ladies in history. Mr. Cheney, in any event, is more than four years younger than Mr. McCain, and, if elected, would be 67 years old at his inauguration, younger than Reagan was when he took office. His health, while a topic of frequent speculation, hasn’t interfered with his service as vice president.
Lawrence Kudlow wrote a column a while back saying he hoped President Bush asked Vice President Cheney to run for president in 2008. It was a fine idea then and it still is — not because the current field is particularly weak, but because Mr. Cheney is so much more experienced and shrewd a figure, one who could help settle some of the arguments about the Bush years in favor of Mr. Bush. A White House aiming to get Mr. Cheney elected could also avoid some of the hazards that befall lame-ducks — drift, brain drain, irrelevance. Such a campaign might lift Mr. Cheney ‘s own standing in the polls.
I had to double check the byline to make sure this wasn’t an April Fools’ joke. It isn’t; the piece ran today, not Sunday. It appears to be sincere.
I’ll spare you the detailed explanation of Cheney’s job performance since taking office in 2001 — suffice it to say, many horrifying books will no doubt be written on the subject — but I will ask a few questions of the fine editors at the New York Sun.
* Dick Cheney’s approval rating is on par with Nixon’s when he was forced to resign in disgrace. Is there any Democratic candidate who couldn’t beat Cheney in at least 45 states?
* There are approximately seven Americans not named “Cheney” who believe the VP deserves a promotion. Are all seven currently on the Sun’s payroll?
* Can anyone (at the Sun or anywhere else) point to a single thing Cheney has been right about since taking office?
* Does the Sun’s editorial board realize that 61% of Republicans recently said that Cheney would not be an “acceptable” presidential nominee?
* If Dems ask really nicely, and promise to campaign with one arm tied behind our backs, would the Republicans nominate Cheney? Please?
In fact, on that last point, I’m probably going about this the wrong way. Allow me to reverse course — I’m terrified of a Cheney campaign. He’d be all but unbeatable. It’s not a question of whether he’d win, but rather, how big a margin he’d win by. Dems can only hope this unstoppable juggernaut doesn’t run and crush our feeble field of candidates.
Yeah. That’s it. That’s what I meant to say.