U.S. NEWS: White House Watch: Cheney resignation rumors fly
Sparked by today's Washington Post story that suggests Vice President Cheney's office is involved in the Plame-CIA spy link investigation, government officials and advisers passed around rumors that the vice president might step aside and that President Bush would elevate Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
First of all, these are rumors. We might all be laughing (or crying as the case may be) about this tomorrow. But if Cheney actually resigned now, I don't know what to think about that. A long-ass time ago—last year, before the election and the blog—I actually worried about this exact scenario (Rice for Big Time). Now? I'm not so sure what to make of it. The political landscape has changed greatly.
I suppose I'd rather keep the VP a lame duck along with Bush. Upgrading Rice to VP will only bolster her chances in 2008 if she ran. And if she is the VP, she is the presumptive nominee, no matter what she or anybody else says. She will be the "man" to beat. McCain included. In fact, because Rice is pro-choice and fails on a lot of Dobson qualifications, this might be the only way for The Cabal to get their nominee past the fundies. Do I want Rice, McCain or a fundie-backed maniac? Who would be most beatable?
Cheney stepping down could be the nail in the coffin, or he could be the effective "ultimate" fall guy. Yikes. My head is spinning.
[I hope that photo makes you feel like the ant Cheney regards the rest of us as...]
UPDATE: I can't find the diary or or wherever I first posted on the whole Rice/Cheney trade-in, but I found an old Kos open thread where I threw it out there...
UPDATE 2: Tim Greive at salon writes:
As stories pushing the Plame investigation higher up the chain of command swirl about -- Cheney's face is on CNN right now -- perhaps it would be wise to remember this. The Bush White House is full of masterful spinners, and they're good at playing the expectations game. Maybe they're really concerned that Cheney will be indicted or at least implicated in Plame's outing. But maybe they know that, if they get enough people thinking that Cheney may face charges, the indictment of a Karl Rove or a Scooter Libby might suddenly come off as no big thing. [emphasis mine]
That's probably about right. This whole post has been more of a "wouldn't that be crazy if..." than "I believe it." The thing to keep in mind, no matter what happens, is that this kind of story gets play now. Even Big Dick is in bounds now.
4 comments:
Rice for President of the women-belong-in-the-kitchen, women-can't-speak-in-the-church, don't-mix-the-races Religious Right? Given her unstinting support for a man who has a 2% (!!!) approval rating among blacks, Condi Rice is not a viable candidate. Please tell me you just didn't think it through.
As I said, my fear of Rice was last year. Yeah, I knew it threw the southern strategy playbook out the window, but before they tossed it, they tore out and held on to the race- and sex-baiting chapter.
The thought of the Republican Party running the first woman AND minority for President was a wierd feeling, to say the least.
Look at it this way. The Dems might end up running Hillary anyway, offering the rednecks a choice between Rice and "that bitch".
Who they gonna vote for?
If it's not Hillary, and it's a white guy lameass like Biden, they might peel off in the middle with women and blacks to offset what they lose at the base.
Overall, I agree with you. By the time 2008 rolls around, it's more likely than not, that being anywhere close to this White House will be a distinct negative.
Oh, and this site is riddled with stuff I haven't thought through...
If the Dems run Clinton and the Repubs run Rice, the redneck and fundie crowds would likely stay home and clean their rifles. The the Repubs run Rice, the Dems could run Mr. Bill (Oh Nooooo) and either get the misogynist vote, or convince the "Everyone but us hates 'Merka" crowd to stay home.
Rice would never run for Prez. The Republicans wouldn't have it. If it took the Dems until 1984 just to run a woman on the Veep ticket, it will take the Republicans at LEAST another 20 years before they are ready to attempt something like that.
Also, IS THIS BIT ABOUT CHENEY EVEN REMOTELY TRUE?!?!?!?!! Holy shit doesn't even begin to describe my astonishment/level of being appalled that he'd be balled for THIS and not all the BS that's gone on w/ hiring Halliburton.
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