Who thinks Cheney will resign?

[zanana]

I predict that if Cheney becomes too much of a drag on Bush's election prospects, Cheney will "resign" for his health. Bush will never "fire" him, because he's spoken of him so glowingly (is that a word?), and supposedly loyalty is a big thing with him. Also, we're hearing sucking sounds from John McCain lately. I think he's been promised something pretty big. McCain for VP?

[Clinton Crusader]

1. nods in agreement...

This is a definite poss.....

Or Guiliani??
:kick:

[7th_Sephiroth]

2. he cant

its the only thing keeping him from french prison

[Helios]

33. So is he going to be VP forever?

Talk about delaying the inevitable.

I can't imagine a VP being extradited from this country - ever. We won't even prosecute our own, but we'd let someone else do it?

He's safe so long as he stays in the states.

[newyawker99]

50. Hi Helios!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[calico1]

3. Nope.

[livetohike]

I don't think he will resign because

this late in the campaign, it would look really bad for Bush. I think it would give the impression that they were desperate (which I believe they are).

[Helios]

38. Cheney is a special case

he can claim health issues easily which will not give a desperate impression.

Let's say he claims his doctor told him he could have a heart attack any second from now on. He can come out and say he thinks it's important the VP is in good health, he is not, and will leave. He doesn't want to, but he can't do anything about his poor health. Few people will argue with that.

As another person said - he could also have a fake heart attack. Then come out and say that he obviously needs to resign. No one will argue with that either.

[luaneryder]

4. I absolutely feel this will happen

They're already setting it up. At some point during an election stump, probably soon, Cheney will fall ill and bow out on the advice of his new physician.

[lovedems]

5. This is one I am having a hard time calling.

Common sense would say he would go but these people lack any sense at all.

It would look like Cheney left do to public pressure and they couldn't stand that.

I just don't know about this one. For every reason I can think of they would drop him, I can counter that with a reason they would keep him.

:shrug: This one has me baffled.

[Blue Wally]

Too easy to camouflage

If Cheney resigns before the election and allows a new VP or just doesn't run for re-election allowing Bush to choose a new running mate, it doesn't have to be seen as bowing to public pressure, impending indictments, or loss of popularity.

He just makes a public appearance and in the middle of a speech clutches his chest and staggers off. His aides rush him to a hospital, word is put out that he has had a heart attack, and he goes into seclusion at his ranch and off the radar screen. His replacement (Giuliani, McLain, Powell) is greeted as a fresh new face and as a "healer" and any DUers crying "foul" will be looked at as tinfoil hat types

[Sinistrous]

30. We can take that to the bank.

Rove has been setting this up for some months.

STEP 1: Get a McCain staffer to float the lie that Kerry wanted McCain on the ticket. This puts McCain into the spotlight and the incessant repeating of the lie implants in the minds of some independent and soft Democrats that McCain is a "good guy". (per the LA Times, the "source" for the Kerry/McCain story was a McCain staffer.)

STEP 2: Leverage that lie as a smear on Kerry's choice for VP. (Done.)

STEP 3: McCain becomes the VP after Cheney's unfortunate illness and brings the already duped voters with him. (Bank on it.)

On Edit: Cheney will, of course, remain as a Special Advisor to the President of some kind so that Poppy Bush can keep his pipeline from the BFEE to the Oval Office intact.

[Mandate My Ass]

6. Not me

Not ever. Any man who is put in charge of choosing a veep and picks himself has too much ego to fall on his sword. I can't see it.

[Danieljay]

7. I have a feeling you might be right...Bush releasing more McCain ads

I've lost just about all respect for McCain. I used to like the man, but after he sucked back up to Bush after the Bush campaign attacked he and his family he lost my support. I agree with the previous poster however, this might look really bad and quite desperate late in the election. Then again, nothing would surprise me and theres a good chance it would draw a "sympathy" vote from the sheeple. Imagine the media..."poor poor Dick...."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5394534

On Thursday, McCain said he would campaign for Bush but would not attack either Democratic candidate John Kerry or his running mate, John Edwards, fellow senators he called his friends. He also called Edwards, D-N.C., “a good man” and said Kerry, D-Mass., had made a good selection.

“We need to reduce the personal attacks aspect and focus more on the issues that face us in the future,” McCain told NBC’s “Today.”

At least publicly he still maintains some shred of decency. If he has any self respect left, he would decline an invitation from Bush for the VP spot.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

8. i think so

cheney may have thought he was in charge, but actually he was permitted to be in charge. the bush family comes first. ask john tower.

[Old and In the Way]

9. Now I understand why this administration hates the French so much.

Yes, I think this will sink Cheney,too. But it won't help Bush's re-election chances one bit. I doubt McCain signs on with Bush, does he want to be the Gerry Ford to Bush's Richard Nixon? ....maybe Rudi, but that creates a whole big mess inside the Republican "family values" coalition.

I see nothing good coming out of this for the Republican Party. Watch the trendlines....this administration and the corrupt Republican Party leadership that allowed these criminals to damage our economy, wipe out our Treasury, and stain our internal reputation - they are going to crater big time.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

10. Bush himself is the drag

and to jettison Cheney at this late date would be huge flip flop.

[AlinPA]

14. Hmmmm. Never looked at it that way.

[merh]

11. Agreed -- health reasons will force him to resign

It will be their twist on the movie Dave - he will be secluded in his bunker with the rest of the shadow government and will continue to operate things from behind the curtain.

French can't indict a hospitalized man in critical condition.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. Depends on the polls.

I have no doubt that Bush will chuck Cheney over the side if he thinks it will keep him on the throne.

[AlinPA]

13. I do. Then its Powell or McCain. Easy call for Rove.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Nevernose]

16. Cheney won't resign; it's GW that's the figurehead

Here's why:

Bush is so totally incompetent. Cheney is the one running the show and making the decisions (albeit, making all of the wrong ones). All those guys like Wolfie, Rummy, Perle, et ct. -- those aren't his Daddy's friends, those are Cheney's friends. Bush doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. He;s just there to wave the flag and his alleged Christianity to Southern/Midwestern voters, and maybe seem like a guy you'd like to drink a beer with.

GW is just the figurehead on Cheney's administration.

[AlinPA]

20. I think Rove has most of the power and controls all decisions.

(re:O'Neill insisting that everything was political- I believe him)

[Helios]

39. Does cheney not have a phone?

He can easily run things remotely and manage any networking. Or as someone else said above, stay on as a "special advisor".

Cheney does NOT need to be the VP in order to do his work...

[StayOutTheBushes]

43. Well, if Cheney is the one in charge he is the incompetent one!

[Cicero]

17. Only after the election

I'd say, if Cheney were to resign, he'd do it after re-election (assuming Bush wins, of course). It would likely be an "October surprise" for 2005. He would claim health reasons, and then Bush would be free to appoint either Gulliani (sp?) or maybe McCain.

Later,

[Helios]

45. Too risky for him

"Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress. "

They will have the house, but if we take back the senate (very possible) we will be able to seriously limit who he would chose for VP if he wants to get the needed confirmation from the senate.

This actually might be another reason bush will pick a new VP before the election. What if cheney really would need to resign between 04-08? (highly possible) The thought of having to negotiate with the dems in the senate for a VP he probably wouldn't want probably makes bush ill.

[TahitiNut]

18. Martyr.

Heart attack. Dead. Mourning. His lies become "the wisdom of a fallen warrior." Rally the faithful. Lynn gives keynote. "Do it for the Dicker." Racicot steps forward to fill the big time shoes.
:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

Probable? I don't know. Conceivable? Frighteningly, yes.

[opihimoimoi]

19. If the Pubs had any smarts they would drop these two toads and use Gary

Bauer/Tim LeHaye ticket...

or the McCain/Rudy thing

or, the Ken Hamblin/Limbaugh ticket.

Right now, the bushes are like house guests who stay too long,

[BillZBubb]

21. The Repugs will look at the polls just before their convention.

If Shrub is more than 15 points behind in their real polls (not the phony corporate media shit), Cheney will develop a heart palpitation. He'll need to spend more time with his family. With the deepest regrets and against the "pleading" of his party, he'll ask to be dropped from the ticket.

At the convention, there will be a glowing tribute to Cheney and all the "wonderful" things he's done for the country and how much his service will be missed. A real yuckfest.

Then, they'll nominate someone who they hope can pump the bilge out of the sinking ship. It will be too little, too late.

[GreenPartyVoter]

22. Ex-GOP Senator Suggests Bush Dump Cheney

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - President Bush should consider dumping Vice President Dick Cheney from the Republican ticket this year, an influential former GOP senator said Wednesday.

Alfonse D'Amato said Bush should consider putting Secretary of State Colin Powell or Sen. John McCain of Arizona on the GOP ticket.

There was no immediate comment from the Bush-Cheney campaign.

Bush has long maintained he wants Cheney to be his running mate.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20040708/D83ME7200.html

[Blue Wally]

23. I wonder what would be the effect on the black vote.......

Of Powell as VP???? He really hasn't had much of a role in the Bush domestic agenda. I do know that black soldiers at least were tremendously proud of Colin Powell when he was Chief of Staff. Would some of the black vote go for "one of their own"??

[GreenPartyVoter]

24. Dunno, but he and Condi have been saying that they both don't

want to return for a second term. I don't think they've enjoyed their experience as part of the junta.

[Blue Wally]

28. I don't know........

How deep Powell's relationship is with Bush-43, but he has real loyalty going back years with Bush-41. Colin Powell is a man to whom mutual respect and loyalty mean a lot. If they really needed him, I think that Bush-41 could convince hi to stay on. Powell is the kind of man who will hang in there at the plate and take a HBP for the home team.

[Helios]

46. None at all

people don't vote on race especially when it works out against them. We (well, not me personally as I knew it was a mistake from the start) made that mistake in 2002 here in Texas.

If they hope to get the minority vote when their party is entirely against minorities they are in dream land.

[recidivist]

25. Maybe, if Colin Powell agrees to run.

FWIW, I think Colin Powell was Bush's first preference in 2000, and probably Cheney's too, since Cheney was heading up the VP selection team. But Powell declined. Powell, of course, has never run for anything, and he's a moderate-to-liberal who is not entirely at home in a conservative Party. Plus his wife reportedly was strongly opposed.

There are a few voices in the GOP throwing Powell's name around again. I very much doubt he would do it, but he would probably lock the election up for Bush if he did. The Republicans would be tickled pink to be the first to run a black man for VP and, while the conservatives would grumble because Powell is a moderate, they would go along in the interest of winning. That, in turn, would set up a huge Republican fight in 2008 if Powell went for the top job, so there is a golden lining.

[napi21]

27. I don't think Powell would consider it!

If you remember, they talked to him about running back in 2000, and he said absolutely not! Also, take a look at him recently. He looks tired, and many times disgusted with a lot of those around him.

I'd bet big time, that even if (God forbid) shrub gets re-elected, Powell will step aside. I think he has come to really HATE his job and DC.

[napi21]

26. I think it depends on "breaking news"!

If bad news comes out about him in the Plame case, or the appeals court says AGAIN that he has to reveal the info on the energy meetings, or if the French allegations get into high gear in the US, or etc, etc, etc, Bush may not want him to go, but all those around him will force it! You're probably right on the way it would be done....with some health related issue.

I just hope he sticks around until the convention in Sept. It will be close enough to the election to make a different running mate hard to promote, but long enough for the Dems to push quite a bit of dirt too.

[SunDrop23]

29. I don't

[Redleg]

31. No, Bush and Cheney are too arrogant to to do something like that.

They both believe in the alternate reality where people like Cheney.

[stanwyck]

32. If Bush's bad summer continues

Cheney will develop health problems which will cause him to, quite regretably, resign due to pressure from his family about concerns for his health. Bush will then energize his ticket with someone younger and less evil. Repubs are drooling over the possibilities of Powell or McCain. But either, I believe, is doubtful. Bush would be too over-powered by either. Either man would work against Bush by highlighting his glaring inadequacies. They're infinitely smarter and braver. So. Bush is either stuck with the embodiement of corporate whoredom, or a VP who throws the spotlight on what a fake Bush is with his macho posturing and faltering intellect. Not good for Bush either way.

[apnu]

34. nope

I'll be very surprised if Cheney resigns. This administration has shown itself that it will do as it pleases and damn anyone who gets in the way.

One thing you can say about the simian-in-chief is that he's at least honest to the people. By that I mean, when he says "I'm gonna fuck you" he does (Clean Air act, No Child Left Behind, Iraq and so on and on and on)

So if he says that Cheney's his boy and he's sticking to him, I find myself with the strange sensation of actually believing the pResident for the first time in this "term of office"

[Helios]

35. I think he will

He will say he really doesn't want to, but his health just won't let him stay on. Probably give a big speech about how it's best for the nation and he has no choice.

Then bush will take up Giuliani. (McCain is possible too, but I think they want Giuliani)

That way they can say the convention being in NY was OK because the VP is from there. So it's not a 9/11 exploit.

They can play off of Giuliani popularity. (which is a hell of a lot better than cheney - which is next to none)

Cheney can video conference/call whenever bush needs something.

Giuliani will probably have a great born again experience and change his position on abortion. This will wow their fudamentalist base and they will adore him.

They MIGHT try to take NY. If Giuliani could deliver NY they could win the election. I seriously doubt it, but it would help them a little at minimum.

This will also prep them for 08. It's better to have an incumbent in an election. Giuliani could run - I seriously doubt cheney could for health reasons.

I think they have no choice at this point. If they don't make major changes they will lose. It's choice between dumping cheney in a last ditch attempt at victory, or going down in failure.

[moondust]

36. Fake heart attack.

That would generate sympathy and there would be no questions asked. Resignation would be an admission of failure which Gofuckyourself ain't ever gonna do for anybody under any circumstances.

[rbnyc]

37. No Way.

He will never let go. Too greedy. Too stubborn. Too vain. Too sure of the machinery they have in place to win. It will be their downfall and I can't wait to see it.

[LuminousX]

40. If Bush/Cheney wins, who do they run in 2008?

Letting Cheney slip to the side and bring in BFEE crony #000189 is the best bet. Otherwise they are banking on Jeb.

[Helios]

47. Exactly

The handlers think ahead. They know cheney can't run in 08, and it's better to have an incumbent. A new VP will allow that, otherwise they will have to play on a more level playing field and they hate that.

[trogdor]

41. Cheney can't quit.

Not even if he or George wanted to. This is what happened today when reporters kept asking him questions about Ken Lay.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/040708/photos_ts_afp/040708125254_jg418y7h_photo1


You'd think he would have been ready for this with the usual bullshit answer to which the press would just jot down and nod, having become accustomed to this sort of thing.

[goju]

42. I hope not

If he does quit I bet Guliani or McCain would step in and that would not be good, at all. I think the best thing for us is if he sticks around. I think its almost too late for anyway. It would be way to suspicious if he quits 4 months before the election.

[DWolper]

44. Would not surprise me

Really wouldn't surprise me. But then again, I thought the NY POST story about Gephardt was probably true! Cheney is no boost to that ticket and a big switch would generate a lot of interest so, who knows? Couldn't do any worse.

[gollygee]

48. I agree that he might do it

He'll feign illness or a heart attack, and then leave for the good of the country. There will be a huge farewell event at the white house. Everyone will go on and on about how much good he's done for the US . . . :puke:

[Piperay]

49. Cheney will go but

I think that McCain has been 'tainted' by being 'good enough' to be considered by Democrat Kerry. Chimpy's RWingers would shit a brick if 'liberal' McCain was put on the ticket. I think Chimpy will put Ridge or Guiliani on the ticket.


On Edit: I'm being sarcastic when I say that McCain was 'good enough' and a 'liberal', he is neither one.

[Disturbed]

51. Interesting speculations.

This could go many ways. Powell and the black vote? Most blacks have lost respect for him. I sure don't think he would garner much a of a black vote. Guliani? A stretch with his pro-gay and pro-abortion stance. McCain? Doubtful that he would be that much of a lackey.
In my view they are stuck with Pres. Cheney unless actual indictements from any of the various sources actually comes about.

[BeachBuckeye]

52. A year and a half ago I predicted he would resign. However.......

I hope he stays put. He is definitely a liability to *

[hippiegranny]

53. i think he will have to

he is a huge liability. and they know it, but they can't say it. so he'll have some ticker probs and have to retire, sorry folks, doctor's orders! pinhead will pretend to be so so sad and then they'll send in a new clown to try to revive the deflating elephant.