Run, Dick, run for President. Don't break tradition. Don't be the first Republican vice-president ever to wimp out and voluntarily not run for the president. Be a real conservative.
In fact, you have to go all the way back to 1920 before you find a Vice - President who willingly didn't run for President when his boss's term was up. And wouldn't you know it, VP Thomas Marshall was a wimp Democrat.
As to Republican Vice-Presidents, only four did not become presidential candidates to replace their President. In 1928 the GOP refused to nominate the arrogant Charles Gates Dawes, a banker who was not well received in hard economic times. Instead, the Republicans went with a real winner, Herbert Hoover, whose Vice-President, Charles Curtis, had enough guts to run against the great communist Roosevelt in 1932.
As to the Democrats and their predecessors who did not run for President, other than Marshall in 1920 there were but three: George Dallas who chose not to seek the presidency in 1849; Richard Johnson was unable to get the Democratic nomination in 1840; and Daniel Tompkins was a drunk who died some three months after leaving office in 1825. Tompkins was a Democratic-Republican.
Is that what you are, Dick, a Democratic-Republican? Are you going soft by not running for president? I mean, you are going to be only the first Republican who chose not to run and only the third overall. Are you crossing the aisle and joining ranks with the Democrats? Are you becoming a girly boy?
Look, Dick, the vice-presidency is a stepping stone, not "worth a pitcher of warm piss" according to Democratic Vice President John Nance Garner.
Are your policies not worth warm piss, Dick? Are you willing to turn over waterboarding to John McCain?
Conservatives are not happy with McCain. Wrong on torture. Wrong on buying elections. Wrong on immigration.
As neo-conservative pundit Fred Barnesput it, you are, big Dick: "The obvious man for Bush to tap as his successor in 2008." Barnes wrote that
"The war on terror, national security, and the struggle for democracy will probably dominate American politics for a decade or more. Bush's legacy, or at least part of it, will be to have returned these issues to a position of paramount concern for future presidents. And who is best qualified to pursue that agenda as knowledgeably and aggressively as Bush? The answer is the person who helped Bush formulate it, namely Cheney."
Regarding the usual arguments about Cheney not running, Barnes said that
"He's not too old. President Reagan was 69 when he took office. Despite past heart trouble, Cheney hasn't had a serious health problem for years. Besides, his health has nothing to do with his refusal to consider running in 2008."
Then why won't Dick run for president, even when conservatives are afraid of McCain? "I made it clear when I took the job that I had no aspirations to run for president myself." Why? Because if he was to run then he would have had to worry "about what the precinct committeeman in Ottumwa, Iowa, is going to think about me in January of '08." Since Cheney doesn't have to worry about even what his party loyalists are going to think of Bush's and his agenda, Dick feels free to "offer my advice based on what's best from the standpoint of the president and his program and what we're trying to achieve now."
Ah, yes, Dick Cheney, so-called conservative who admits that he serves his country at his convenience, for his agenda, and could give a damn about what some chump in Iowa thinks about what he is doing.
Run, Dick, run
B. 1952, GA, USA. D. To Be Determined. Beloved husband, father, grandfather, lover, confidant and friend of many from bikers to Zen masters; American writer and speaker, known for his criticism of Mammon's unholy trinity of big business, big government and big religion; served the least of them professionally as psychologist and voluntarily as activist for decades; loved to shoot basketball, billiards and the bull; lived free, died game. (memorial sketch by davidhewsonart.com)
The VP is not running for the same reason that Kissinger never ran. The real power is behind the 'throne'. We have had Kissinger in the oval office for 5 administrations so far. Cheney is next in line for the slot which is far juicier than cutting ribbons at ceremonies.
Peter.
by
Peter Niniart (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at 12:39:56 PM
