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Run, Dick, Run
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The former vice president's current media blitz begs a question: could he actually be planning a presidential run? Here are 8 signs you might be seeing "Cheney 2012."
Dick Cheney has always insisted he never wanted George W. Bush’s job, and on a national level, he's about as popular as swine flu. Seems unlikely he’d jump into the 2012 presidential fray, right? Not so fast. Cheney has been appearing on television with a frequency typically reserved for presidential aspirants, and if history is any guide (he selected himself for vice president in 2000), humility won't hinder him. Could he be gearing up for a run? Stranger things have happened—Richard Nixon, for example, was Cheney’s equal in provoking liberal ire, and it was eight years between his vice presidency and his presidential win in 1968. The Daily Beast gathers eight clues that Cheney—and his doggedly loyal supporters—are paving the way for his presidential run in 2012.
1. The media blitz
At this point, someone should just give him his own show. The former vice president has been carpet-bombing network news, taking to the airwaves to criticize President Obama every chance he gets. In the past few weeks, he’s spoken with Sean Hannity, Neil Cavuto, Bob Schaeffer, and radio host Scott Hennen. He’s also scheduled to give a major address to the American Enterprise Institute next week. The thrust of his message? “Obama is making us less safe.” Never mind that, as Republican Lawrence Wilkerson points out: “More Americans were killed by terrorists on Cheney's watch than on any other leader's watch in U.S. history.” It seems like we should expect more of Cheney, not less. “I'm not trying to start any rumors,” wrote Steve Benen at Washington Monthly, “but Cheney is certainly acting like a guy who plans to run for something. He's doing lots of media interviews, cultivating his connection with Limbaugh, attacking the president, lying about Democratic ideas, and giving at least one speech at a major conservative think tank about his vision for the future.”
2. His old fans are coming out of the woodwork
The New York Sun's editors love Dick Cheney so much that they recently brought their deceased publication briefly back to life, apparently just to praise the idea of a presidential run by the former VP. An infamous Sun editorial in 2007 suggested Cheney run in 2008. And though that didn’t happen, the paper printed a reprise of said editorial last month on its previously defunct Web site, arguing that it made the right call at the time. "Our own view is that Mr. Cheney just might have beaten Mr. Obama, particularly if he had broken with Mr. Bush on the bailout of the banks and the seizure of AIG and Fannie Mae, actions that both Messrs. McCain and Obama backed.” And while the Sun stopped short of endorsing Cheney for 2012, writing instead that "a new generation of leaders" was needed, famed neocon Bill Kristol went all the way this week on his Weekly Standard blog, writing, "Of course, everyone’s first choice for president in 2012 is Dick Cheney." Given his close ties to the Bush administration, it is at least somewhat possible he wasn't being sarcastic.
3. He hasn’t said he’s not running for president
OK, that may not be enough to convince a jury of his peers, but as far as these things go, you’re in it until you say you’re not.
4. There could be a Bush on the ticket
They wouldn’t even have to print new bumper stickers. Speaking about former Florida Governor Jeb Bush on (no surprise) Fox News, Cheney said, “I like Jeb. I think he's a good man. I'd like to see him continue to stay involved politically.” He added, “I'd probably support him for president.” Does Cheney think his best shot would be to hitch his wagon to a Bush’s star, or perhaps, more sinisterly, does he realize the only name less popular than his own—and therefore the easiest to beat in a primary—is Bush?
5. Republicans are too scared to tell him not to
Would you want to stand in Cheney’s way? In a Washington Post article about Republicans’ uneasiness over Cheney’s attacks on the Obama administration, not a single critic would go on the record. “Cheney remains powerful enough that most of his GOP critics are not willing to take him on in public,” the Post wrote. "The fact that most people want to talk [not-for-attribution] shows what a problem it continues to be," said one Republican strategist who talked not-for-attribution. "Cheney continues to be a force among many members of our base, and while he is entirely unhelpful, no one has the standing to show him the door."
6. He’s younger than John McCain
That’s right. Despite his four heart attacks (the first one suffered at age 37) and his geezerly stoop (complete with an inauguration stint in a wheelchair), the former vice president is only 68 years old—four years younger than John McCain. And come 2012, he would be 72, the same age McCain was in 2008.
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"...no one has the standing to show him the door..."
There's the problem in a nutshell. No one in the party with any credibility or statesmanship or moral weight that can take the car keys away from a powerful drunk at the wheel of the party (drunk on arrogance, that is). You need good people, that everyone agrees are someone to pin their hopes on, not someone who gathers consensus the cheap, easy way, by *playing on your fears, however unfounded*, rather than *focusing your hopes, maybe even giving you new ones.*
Playing on fears has been the top strategy of the neoconservative movement since its beginning. ..butthere was a time when the neocons DIDN'T rule the republican party.. and it seems the neocons are now playing the "if you don't go down with the sinking ship, then you are not a true republican" card which is absolutely ridiculous.
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It seemed it was an ordinary news day with enough to keep the media reasonably busy. Why fabricate a Cheney candidacy out of purest bullshit? Did you read this piece by what appears to be an apprentice before it went in, Tina? Be honest.
This is the first time I have agreed with anything you have commented on Banjo. The news cycle must have dried up. The article is hogwash.
Nothing like this story to work the left into a psychopathic frenzy of fear. The title of this article should have been "To arms! To arms! Here comes another Dick."
Why would Democrats be afraid of Cheney running? He's just about the least popular man in America? I think it's the Repubs who are really scared about him running. He would get slaughtered.
absolutely
he or Palin are sure to sink the next election
the left says ; )
"run dick run" and take Jane (Palin) with you
Come off it, why is it whenever any article is written that people don't like people say there are more important things to write about. Did you have to read this? No. Were any trees killed in making it? No. Cheney has been all over the news lately, it is only natural to speculate he has ulterior motives. If you don't like speculation about the future, stick to Fox, where they do nothing but fantasy.
Democrats can only hope this is true. We'd have the White House, 70 Senators and 300 Reps. and it would drive the final nail in the GOPasaur coffin.
What a joke. Maybe he'll appoint Limbaugh as his running mate,
lol, now if we could only get a real democrat instead of obama we might have 2 candidates with actual differences.
Given a choice between a "real" Democrat (presumably you mean far to the left of Obama) and a Cheney-esque real Republican, the real Republican wins. Leftist Democrats want to be members of the Party of Martyrdom. They see the prospect of universal healthcare, easing of tensions with the Muslim world, the proper handling of Guantanamo detainees, etc as simply not enough. They would rather go down in the defeat than compromise.
The fallen Party of Lincoln's "dream ticket". As for concerns for his health, I'm thinking his heart was actually removed sometime ago......maybe during one his long stints hiding out at "undisclosed locations".
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the hypocrisy has come full circle, cheney needs to go to jail and so does rummy
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/05/here-are-few-of-torture-photos-obama .html
This link works no space, I don't know how the space lands up in there.
the space is between Obama and html. The pictures are horrible. They would incite the American people - that is why he doesn't want to let you see them.
OK, somebody needs to pull apart this "fearful little man" aspect of his personality, because that seems to be what motivates him. If he somehow decides to run in 2010, this is needed information, because he has to be defeated at all costs (within the Constitution).
Lawrence Wilkerson, the ex-chief of staff of Colin Powell, calls Cheney "fearful." He was afraid to go to Vietnam, he was afraid to let his house be shown on Google Earth, he is afraid of terrorists, he is afraid of Socialists, and on and on.
When you think about it, it makes sense. This is a small personality who lives out a paranoid fantasy. He thinks the homeboys who thought they could blow up JFK airport by lighting a gas main 20 miles away were a threat, and I'm sure the others he claims to know about were just as specious.
Cheney is the most dangerous person since Richard Nixon, and they both had a fantasy of an "imperial presidency" that transcends the checks and balances of the American form of government.
"Cheney is the most dangerous person since Richard Nixon, and they both had a fantasy of an "imperial presidency" that transcends the checks and balances of the American form of government."
Under Obama, we get the Presidential prison at Gitmo, the Presidential trials for detainees, AND he gets to hire and fire the heads of auto companies! Fans of the Imperial Presidency have never been happier.
(Some of you folks need to look at what's really happening, not merely listen to the sock puppet media.)
What the hell are you talking about? Gitmo was a creature of Bush/Cheney, and Obama hasn't determined the final resolution yet. All of the wingnuts are crying about not wanting "terrorists" in their prisons in their states.
And if auto companies were still making SUV's and Hummers when gas was $4 a gallon, wouldn't you say they were a little slow on the draw? That still doesn't warrant CEO firing by itself, but when you give them Billions of dollars, it does.
(Yes, that should have been applied to the financial industry too, and I'll concede that point.I don't know what's happening there.)
But the "imperial presidency," or the "unitary executive" if you prefer, is a legitimate point supported by the writings of both nutcases--Nixon and Cheney. You can't refute that, unless you support changing our form of government.
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What rule didn't BHO follow to "qualify" for president?
Really---you can't mean citizenship. Can you? Only the diehard loonies are still pursuing that. I thought they had returned to the woodwork.
If you are, then it's you drinking the "cool aide" (sic).
Geez! Let's hope not.
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Great! Cheney/Bush? - Obama can just recycle his 2008 campaign and win in another landslide.
The first win was not a landslide.
Excuse me? The election was a mandate. Obama was close in states unheard of, like Georgia and Montana. The election was an absolute landslide - unless maybe we were watching two different elections.
Facts are facts. But I guess the definition of "landslide" could be debated, and most likely will be.
These days, a 7 percentage point win is arguably a landslide. The popular vote margin was 9.6 million.
Some more numbers: BHO won in 55.6% of all Congressional Districts, and he won in 34 Districts (out of 435 total) that put a Republican into the House on the same ballot.
I would also call it a mandate, if not a landslide.
come on shortcourse.... Obama won. We really don't have the time to debate the semantics of what is a landslide...
Just the thought leaves me feeling sick to my stomach.
In the near future, we will see the former Darth Vader come out of the closet and state with purest bullshit that he is going to run for the emperor of the planet.
This man, is the worst legend in his own mind! He has no regard for the electorate and cares not one whit about people other than the ones who can enrich his bank account. His m.o. is nothing more than to shake down the rich so that he can make more money and stash it away in foreign bank accounts that he does not have to pay taxes on.
As for the idea that he run, again purest bullshit! His is the worst record of anyone regarding the oath of office, to protect and defend the Constitution! Why should he now all of a sudden want to do the very thing he committed himself not to?
Should he run, the Democrats will certainly have an advantage
over the Grand Orgy Party in that, it is already known what his platform would be, 'To serve, protect and defend the rich bastards who ruined the economy and helped to bring down the only nation that could make an honest difference in the world.
i hope he runs. then obama will have absolutely no competition.
this article was totally pulled out of someone's ass, but if it did actually happen it would be a gift to the democrats.
dick cheney is obviously a democrat in disguise.
Yawn.........not a chance. All of the points mentioned are "CYA" for him with the firestorm of torture in the media. This is irresponsible and designed to get attention without providing substance. Bush isn't president, Cheney isn't VP....time to move on.
America's strenght is that Cheney can run for president.
America's weakness is that Cheney is not Federal prison for his past actions.
Ha twer this only so and not just another media attempt to rachet up junk....The reason Cheney on on a media blitz IF it is in fact a blitz is that he wants to avoid JAIL! IF he were running for president he might have to talk to some opposition. Where has he been on Bob Schiefer, Hannity, Fox etc. Softballs. Let him do a Rachel Maddow interview or a Keith Olbermann OR let him talk to people who really KNOW something like Tom Ricks, or Jane Mayer, or even Woodward, or Ron Suskind or Seymour Hirsh, then this opinion might have credibility. Cheney is running for his life! By the way...he looks 80!
There isn't a single independent alive that would vote for Cheney. Nor is there a single Democrat... at least "over their dead body" that would ever vote for him. Even moderate Republicans would cringe. So... if you factor all that in, his chances would be slim.
And thank goodness!
Not so fast. This man is the most dangerous man on the planet. He personally arranged his entry into the VP slot in 2000, was a huge factor in the theft of the 2000 presidential election and also the 2004 election by way of his connection to voting machines....he almost single-handedly ginned up the fake reasons to attack Iraq, masterminded the entire torture fiasco, and no doubt was in charge of the destruction of top secret files detailing said torture program. He has been the most significant profiteer off the employment of Halliburtin for the majority of the contracts in the Iraq War and afterward in the
States (Katrina, etc.), and somehow, I am convinced he was a key participant in the ignoring of all the telltale signs of trouble that led up to 9/11, not to mention his secret energy meetings which were sealed from view before the Enron scandal and the blowup with the skyrocketing rise in the price of oil. Do not be fooled.........this man should not be taken lightly or dismissed. He is evil incarnate and bent on the destruction of our Constitution and our American way of life.
glogrrl-
It's hard
To calm down
After being traumatized.
The icy hands trying
To claw their way
Back from the grave
Will not succeed again.
It's over.
This just goes to illustrate what dire straits the Reps are in. 2008 you've got an aging skin cancer survivor who thought "the fundamentals of the economy are sound."
Now you conjecture (I guess because the Beastie Boys have nothing better to do with their time) that a aging mutliple heart attach victim whose penchant for secrecy about government is pathological is positioning himself to run in 2012.
I enjoy fiction as much as the next guy, but really DB. What are the chances Cheney will live long enough to run, that he could withstand the physical rigors of a campaign, that even the wacko Republican base would nominate him and that he would come out of his "undisclosed location" to run?
On the other hand, if the Reps want to make sure Obama wins in history-making landslide, I say bring it on. If Cheney is unavailable, maybe the Reps could nominate Karl Rove, aka Turd Blossom.
How come you never see the Dark Lord of the Sith and Cheney together? Hmmm.....
The notion that this criminal should run for the highest office in the land is ludicrous. Being the puppeteer in the Bush administration that brought this nation to war under pretenses that have now been shown to be a sham, Dick Cheney should be prosecuted for the murders of every soldier that has died in Iraq. Any prosecutor at the federal and state level that is worth their salt should bring charges against this devil and every one of his unsaintly cohorts. He, Bush, Condi and Rove should be tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Only then can we truly call ourselves a free nation that holds each and every individual accountable for their actions. Only then can we truly be restored to a nation of greatness. PLEASE, Mr Holder, treat these individuals as the war criminals they are!
Richard NIxon was totally discounted as a potential future candidate in the mid-60's. Adolf Hitler was also a ludicrous figure in the late 20's. I'm just sayin'.
Oh come on! Cheney is not going to run for president. Give me a break! Maybe he actually cares about our nation's security. Maybe it just is that simple, but you cannot get beyond your hatred of all things Cheney.
The Cheney prediction is not that much of a fantasy. No one predicted that Reagan would get the nomination, then no one predicted that he would win. Then there's Nixon, written off, until...
You are either in fantasy land or writing an article to get some buzz going. Cheney's not interested in being president. However if we get hit again, and I really hope we don't, Many people (the fickle press) will see him as some sort of Churchillian type figure; the anti-hero rising from the ashes who warned a nation of the impending danger. Mark my words if something bad happens he won't look like someone yelling fire in a crowded theater, he'll look more like Churchill.
exactly.
Geez, I don't think so!!!! It is far more likely that he will die (or be disabled) by another heart attack! And it is clear that he has a major breathing problem as well. Just listen to him on the talk shows.
Nope, I think what we are hearing are the rantings of a sick (physically and mentally) and dying man--who is trying to tell us he is, and always has been, RIGHT!
I agree with Thebigkate comment. I just want Cheney in Jail before he dies, This man alone has done all the damage to our Country for his own personal ego and greed. Jail Please and take Karl Rove with him please.
What has he done out of ego and greed?
Thank you.
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