The Dick Bait And Switch

Most people don’t like Dick Cheney. According to a recent CBS poll, Dick has an 18% favorable rating. That’s pretty bad. But not that bad since Dick isn’t running for president in ’08. So he probably doesn’t care what people think of him — he’s gonna be Dick regardless of the country’s opinion of him.

Not since 1952 has a presidential election lacked a member of Article II on one ticket or the other. That begs the question; Will there be a member of Article II on the Republican ticket in 2008?

Understand I’m not suggesting that Dick Cheney will be on the Republican ticket in ‘08. What I’m suggesting is much more cynical.

What if Cheney resigns and Rove cherry picks a credible Republican nominee for ’08? Currently the Republicans lack a viable candidate that will be able to hold the Evangelical base of the party. But if Cheney resigns for “health reasons” Rove could nominate whomever he wanted.

There would be some constraints on Rove’s selection since any nominee would have to endure confirmation by both the Democratically-controlled House and Senate. But the ideal Republican candidate in ’08 would be a moderate Republican voice, the kind that some Democrats would be hard-pressed to vote against in a confirmation hearing.

The benefits of having a Vice President that could continue the Neo-Con revolution and become the preemptive front-runner in the Republican field, combined with the benefit of getting Cheney out of the public eye may provide the perfect incentive for Rove and others to convenience the Decider to oust Dick.

I know this isn’t a novel idea, but what says the wise readers of The Texas Blue?