Polimom finds this thought absolutely fascinating (from the TimesOnline):
REPUBLICANS are urging President George W Bush to dump Dick Cheney as vice-president and replace him with Condoleezza Rice if he is serious about presenting a new face to the jaded American public.
They believe that only the sacrifice of one or more of the big beasts of the jungle, such as Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, will convince voters that Bush understands the need for a fresh start.
Are they really “urging” this? What an interesting idea.
Replacing Cheney with Condi seems unlikely to jump-start the next presidency (she’s been adament that she’s not interested in running for President, suggesting she’s even smarter than people realize). Polimom’s not sure, actually, that any legacy people from this administration could wiggle themselves into the White House in 2008, but such a move might provide a bit of stability to the current muck they’ve got.
Would Cheney resign if asked? It’s possible, I think. Cheney’s health isn’t the best, and “reasons of health” would be a face-saving exit strategy (although TalkLeft suggests that if he resigns, it’s more likely to be because that pesky Fitzgerald is still nosing around…).
But what if he doesn’t? Or (more likely) what if Bush says that Cheney, too, is doing a “heckuva job”?
I’ve already written why I think we can’t unseat Bush just at the moment – but I’ve never considered (until now) that we might consider cutting one card out of the deck.
Polimom’s biggest problem in the last two elections was Cheney, and the little problem of Vice-Presidential succession if something happened to Bush. It bothers me enormously that if anything happened to the president (in my eyes, a dupe and pawn of the neocons), we’d end up with Dick Cheney as President.
President Cheney — now there’s a thought to keep you awake in the night. Just take a minute to visualize that, and you’ll see what I mean…
So how about this? If Cheney won’t go, or Bush decides to go with the stale “heckuva job” defense, maybe America should think about impeaching Cheney.
Either way, “dumping Cheney” is an idea Polimom could get behind.