So, who thinks Cheney is going to take a fall?

[geniph]

I think they're going to make bunker-boy the fall guy for the Plame case, the secret energy commission, the intel failures, etc., and he'll step down for "health reasons" - to be replaced by John McCain. Chimpy desperately needs a running mate with actual military experience to be taken seriously, and Cheney's an even bigger chickenhawk than he is.

I sure as hell won't miss bunker-boy, his sour face, and his mean-spirited nutcase of a wife, but the Bush/McCain ticket would be a stronger ticket, and I'm opposed to ANYthing that strengthens the neocons.

[stepnw1f]

1. Nothing will happen

Unless we are willing to force these people out ourselves..

[boxster]

2. I agree, but his replacement won't be McCain.

Not after he was named to the WMD commission. Conflict of interest.

Not even the Republicans could pull that off.

[geniph]

3. I finally decided they think they can pull anything

after John McCain - who for all his conservatism, I used to have some respect for - announced the RESULT of the WMD commission BEFORE the commission convened.

:wtf:

[sherifffruitfly]

11. they don't THINK......

...... that they can get away with anything... they've PROVEN it...

bush got elected... gave jillions straight to the rich.... gave jillions straight to pharms... lied about war..... started a bad war.... with his cohorts made the house of reps a repub lock for the foreseeable future (texas n colorado redistricting).... and on and on.....

can't blame them for trying (the system is designed to be adversarial).... i wish democrats had strategists as effective as the republicans.... the blame for all of this rests sqaurely on the wussy and idiotic shoulders of the american people..... you deserve what you vote for.....

much like congress shrank from their responsibilities on the iraq war issue, so has the public, by willingly becoming lazy and stupid, shirked their responsibilities by voting these jackasses into office...

hell - this very forum is a perfectly fine example. everyone here is completely caught up in the victim mentality, whining about what THEY are doing to US.... screw that.... THEY are nothing more than avatars/placeholders for what WE are doing to OURSELVES....

bush & co are merely the symptoms... the degradation of america is a disease whose roots run substantially deeper... lbj, in cooly reporting the fact that, by signing the civil rights act, the democrats had lost the south for a generation, was talking about the VOTERS.... the badness of the voters, the public is the true cause of america's problems.... and the repubs are right there to take advantage.....

you give a monkey a gun, and the monkey shoots somebody, you don't blame the monkey...

cdj

[boxster]

15. I just don't think he's the one.

I think there is just too much animosity between Bush and McCain for McCain to be on the ticket.

And, while I'll agree that they *can* get away with nearly anything, I don't think even they are dumb enough to put McCain on the ticket after Bush assigned him to the commission. Since the committee isn't even starting for nearly a year, having the potential sitting VP on the commission just isn't politically feasible.

[Mountainman]

4. Even if he is not in the administration he can still run things

Cheney will still be the puppeteer for the sock puppet chimpy. He just won't be a visible part of the administration. (as if he were visible to us already)

[TacticalPeek]

13. Saves a stamp mailing the Halliburton check.

And no pesky reporters.

[kerouac]

5. Cheney Steps down for Colin Powell

For health reasons only (ahem), Cheney will cede his position on the ticket and Colin Powell (Iran-Contra criminal) will replace him on the ticket. Of course, if they win (steal) the 2004 election, Cheney will then be 'appointed' to some other high-level position with even LESS scrutiny.

Then again, I'm just not a very trusting person (ie: I don't trust Republicans)..

[geniph]

8. I don't think they'd dare offend one of their core constituencies

(the closet and not-so-closet racists). Remember, Colin Powell is at least theoretically a black man. Many staunch Republican voters would never vote for a ticket that would put an African-American a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

It *would* win them a lot of moderate voters, but they'd lose a healthy chunk of their base.

[Eric J in MN]

6. Won't happen. Bush-Cheney will be the ticket (nt)

nt

[snippy]

9. I think you are right. However, there was an article posted recently

which cited polling done by the White House which showed that Cheney was hurting Bush's numbers. If that article was true, that information would have come from Turd Blossom Rove. I would love to see an ugly, bloody battle develop between Rove and Cheney. I think Cheney probably would win that fight but you never know.

[eaprez]

7. Cheney will stay

...because he's very popular with the base who are displeased with Bush already.

[Toots]

10. I would bet a dollar to a dough nut you are correct

McCain is the only one who could put a little bit of credibility back into this administration. He is their only real hope. Cheney has been involved in some real conflicts which are being investigated at this moment. He is damaged goods and Bush* is on the ropes. McCain has a strong poll rating with independents and can counter the lack of military experience in the administration. I think this deal is already cast in stone.

[AG78]

12. I just can't see it

What have they done to show anyone that they give a damn what anyone thinks of them? Cheney and the rest have been so overt in their actions. They barely try to hide it. These people have been around for a long, long time. They've worked very hard to get to the point they're at now. I can't see them giving up power.

[geniph]

14. I don't think they would give up power

See, that's the thing - it just takes the heat off them. They say, well, Cheney's medical problems affected his judgement, but he's gone, so now everything's just dandy. But bunker-boy WON'T be gone - he just won't be accountable to the electorate any longer. He can pull strings behind the scenes, the way Wolfowitz and Perle do.

Strictly a PR move, and it's something Rove's mentor, the late unlamented Lee Atwater, would have done in a second given the polls showing Cheney's not popular with swing voters. Call it the Agnew Gambit.

[leesa]

16. He'll be out but his 'heart condition' will save his treasonous ass.

Probably never had a heart condition.

[mike1963]

17. No. He has all the perks of being VP, PLUS the monthly checks from Hall-

iburton and millions of stock options (which even if he kept his promise to donate the PROFITS from the sale of which would still bring in gaggles of bucks)...he imagines he's adored by millions of people (and he might even be right), and probably imagines a legacy to be proud of.
If he stays away from microwave ovens, he'll be around for the election.
(did I actually write 'election'?)

I won't say any more as I really don't care to go to south Cuba any time in the forseeable future...

[Different-viewpoint]

18. If Kerry were smart....

He would take McCain as his running mate! He's about as Democratic as Republicans come.
Cheney is not going anywhere, he is needed in the administration. Heck, the VP job ain't worth a bucket of warm spit anyway

[OneTwentyoNine]

19. Not a chance....

[TomNickell]

20. They're printing Bush/Cheney '04 bumper stickers....

Saw one today.

Can't blow the old boy off the ticket if all those cars are running around with his name on them.

Looks bad.

Seriously, if can't go without creating a major mess. If he does get dumped, it will be a move of desperation.

[Jose Diablo]

21. The only way Cheney goes

is if a small group of republicans pay a visit to *Bush to explain it to him. Then *Bush will resign or announce he is not running.

[psyntist]

22. Cheney is gone

I think they have been setting this up for a while. Cheney is going to take the blame for Plame. Last i heard all the leads work in Cheney's office. Everything is starting to point to him. He has been making a lot more appearances lately and saying dumber and dumber things. He is going to take the fall and step aside. But no way in hell will it be McCain. I have heard that they are talking to Guilani http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4065772/

[napi21]

23. Won't be McCain

IF and it's a big IF, cheny isn't on the ticket, it won't be McCain. He still hates Bush for what was done to him in 2000.

I'm still not sure Cheny will be gone. There are few things Bush prides himself in, but loyalty to those close around him is one of them.

Maybe the powers of the Pub party will force the issue, but Cheny is a real hot head, and doesn't take defeat very well. We'll see who wins.

[Eric J in MN]

27. Won't switch to John McCain or Rudy Guiliani

They won't switch to John McCain, because it would raise the issue of the dirty 2000 Primaries in which the Bush campaign falsely accused McCain of fathering illegitimate children. Also, McCain's recent comment that Bush was spening money like a drunken sailor would be repeated.

They won't switch to Rudy Guiliani because he's pro-choice. When is that last time a pro-choice candidate was on a Republican Presidential ticket?

[snippy]

28. I think you are right about both men.

[Jade Fox]

24. You're right about this I think

Its so handy that Cheney has those health problems-its the perfect excuse. The Republicans know they need to do something radical or they stand a good chance of losing the election. But I doubt if anyone would be fooled about what is really going on, and I doubt if dumping Cheney would win them any votes. People don't trust someone who lets his second in command take the fall for him. As for McCain, his supporters are likely to be alienated if he gets in bed with Bush.

I think the Republicans would really like to dump Bush.

[knight_of_the_star]

25. They won't do that though

Not with no viable candidate to take his slot (they could TRY with McCain, but I don't think that would work). That and if they dump him they are admitting he was a failure and have effectively conceded the election. They aren't THAT stupid.

[Woodstock]

26. It won't be Bush/McCain

but they might dump Dr. Evil.