Q&A Friday #26: Should Bush Get Rid Of Dick Cheney?

Question: “Should Cheney resign? An article by Conservative Michael Graham suggested that so that Bush is freed from some of his baggage (even if not his fault). What say you?” — seschub

Answer: I would be strongly opposed to Dick Cheney leaving the White House unless he has health problems that make it impossible to continue. There are three reasons for that:

1) He’s got almost five years of experience in working with Congress, in the war on terror, in domestic policy, etc., etc., etc.. You stick someone else in that slot and it may take 6 months to get them up to speed.

2) He’s more conservative than Bush and very influential. Although we don’t get to hear about it, I have no doubt that Cheney pulls Bush to the right on a lot of issues. Given that another veep might not be as conservative or influential as Cheney, there’s no guarantee that would happen with his replacement.

3) Last but not least, a lot of people look at the veep as a successor to the President in the next election. Since Cheney isn’t running in 2008, that leaves the GOP without an “anointed one” in the next presidential election — which suits me just fine. What would not suit me just fine is Bush choosing a squish for his veep who would get a big leg up on all the other candidates because he spent 2-3 years in the public eye as VP.

So, if Bush wants to get rid of some baggage, may I suggest Scott McClellan, Michael Chertoff, Andrew Card, & Norm Minetta? But, not Dick Cheney.

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