I predict Cheney will not be on the ticket come November

[AmerDem]

That convenient heart issue will be the last ditch hope to save his party! I'm thinking Giuliani or Mc Cain.

[RubyDuby in GA]

1. What a crock!

If I were McCain and that idiot asked me to join the ticket, I'd tell him where he could shove his Oval Office. After running the worst smear campaign up to that point, he'd have some nerve asking McCain to join up with him. But then again, he is that stupid..........

[Warpy]

Not intelligence, AMBITION

McCain wants to be poised to take over when Bush is indicted.

[AmerDem]

5. I agree with you ,but

McCain has just let them use him in a major tv ad. That says everything that needs to be said.

[marlakay]

19. I read on DU earlier that he pulled the ad!!

Some one said they heard it on CNN. That McCain didn't give his permission for it.

[AmerDem]

24. I heard that also,

after I posted. Still haven't personaly seen any article or transcript of it though.

[RT Atlanta]

2. FWIW

There was a republican strategist that spoke to a civic group that I belong too in Buckhead some weeks back - this person flat out said that it was their opinion that Cheney wouldnt be on the ticket and to look to... ta da, Bill Frist to be on the ticket with chimpy - that's a fucking scary thought.

[Claire Beth]

3. nah

It won't be McCain for sure. Guiliani is PRO-CHOICE and that wouldn't set well with religous right which is his big base right now. I predict Cheney will be on the ticket and IF he (Bush) wins (God help us) in November....They will replace Cheney at *THAT* time. Too risky for them to put someone else on right now. But it won't be McCain at any rate.

[Warpy]

7. Remember Daddy Bush? Dole?

They were both solidly prochoice until they got the presidency dangled in front of them. GOPers never shrink from selling out half the human race for political expediency, especially when it's over something they're anatomically exempt from ever facing.

[Claire Beth]

9. yes, BUT.....

right now the only base W has is the religious right and he has run on a PRO-LIFE ticket. He won't risk losing his main base. W is counting on the churches to get him re-elected. That's why the campaign is asking for church registeries.

[serryjw]

23. Sorry. McCain is NOT pro-choice

but Guiliani is.

[phylla]

26. Cheney is toast

I wouldn't give him more than a 5% chance of remaining on the ticket.

And even if Cheney is on the Repug. ticket at the convention, it doesn't mean that he cannot be replaced before the November election.

Think of the BIG Brouhaha that will erupt when he withdraws about 3 weeks out! Everything else will be drowned out. The Liberal Media will report on nothing else.

We lose our momentum for at least a week. Repub numbers will go up.

Will we have a chance to counter this move? Nope.

Vice President will be Frist.

And then in 2008 the GOP ticket will be Frist/Jeb Bush.

And so it goes...

[riverwalker]

4. backlog of Cheney lawsuits

I wonder if hiding behind executive privilege will still protect Cheney if he steps down, or if the zillion or so cases filed against him will be able to proceed.

[AmerDem]

6. can't wait to see the Cheney perp walk!

[agingdem]

8. I think you're wrong...

too many Bush/Cheney 2004 bumper stickers out there. If Cheney goes so does the ultra right-wing. Supposedly without the neo-cons, Christian right, etc. support, Bush I lost the presidency.

[AmerDem]

11. Bumper stickers compared to losing their power?

really?

[iconoclastic cat]

10. No way. This will be like the pathetic end of the Soviet Union.

They'll both hang on until the bitter end.

[PurityOfEssence]

12. Too funny!

He's moribund and Chernenkoesque, but he'll be on the ticket unless he's literally dead.

Good analogy.

[mbee]

13. There's some important underlying reason why McCain has made

the ad on behalf of the chimp. He must have promised him something! I still think people won't fall for this so late in the game. McCain can't do anything to change the policies.

[filterfish]

14. question is will this be before or after

the debate with edwards

[VOX]

15. Can't tell. Have been saying all along that Cheney will drop out...

And we'll be seeing Guiliani instead, BUT...Bush* is one stubborn, miserable sob -- change is nearly impossible for him. So who knows?

But if the polls are still close (or if the repukes are behind) going into their convention, look for this kind of ticket shake-up.

[BridgeTheGap]

16. Isn't Cheney really the one in charge?

I hear it's the best kept GOP secret in the beltway...maybe not so secret.
After all, the chimp couldn't appear before the 9/11 Commission without Dick to hold his hand.

[bushwakker]

17. GOP will not nominate a pro-choice veep (Giuliani)

or an African-American (Powell/Rice).

[leyton]

18. I dunno... he kept Rumsfeld, he'll keep Cheney as well.

Bill Frist is surely an attractive VP nominee if you're a Republican, and I assume that if McCain wouldn't take the position Frist would.

But...

They didn't drop Rumsfeld when he was at the center of the Abu Graibh scandal when it was on the news. Bush didn't even distance himself from the guy - in fact, he reemphasized his confidence. This combined with the fact that Bush has pushed his "stay the course" image as far as it can go tells me that he won't dump Cheney, even for political gain.

[Leilani]

20. McCain said this AM the chance of Cheney being dropped

is as good as Arizona freezing over.

And that he will NOT run with Bush.

Cheney is not going anywhere...the base loves him...he raises big money, & Bush can not do the job without him.

And forget pro-choicers...it will be Bush/Cheney.

[fencesitter]

21. I was thinking that this morning.

In 2000, they touted his experience to bush's inexperience. Now he is becoming a liability, especially against Edwards. The health excuse is a very convenient way out.

[Zomby Woof]

he will be

Bush never admits he was wrong. Dumping Cheney, no matter how they could spin it, is an admission of being wrong. End of story.

[Zomby Woof]

22. he will be

Bush never admits he was wrong. Dumping Cheney, no matter how they could spin it, is an admission of being wrong. End of story.

[Princess Turandot]

25. I disagree..

to ditch Cheney would be an admission that something was wrong with their first term policies, which Bush will not do. I think John McCain remembers the 2000 primaries a little too well (where they stooped to insulting his family's ethnicity) to run with Mr. Bush. Plus, he has more influence as a senator. And Rudi wouldn't stoop to being the 'second banana' on such a ticket.

CNN quoted McCain as saying (after that 'ad'was run) that no one would hear a bad word out of his mouth about Kerry during the election.