NEW YORK, 16 July 2004 — Presidential nominee John Kerry’s choice of John Edwards for Democratic vice president last week electrified the Democratic ticket for the November presidential elections.
The handsome, smiling, charismatic Edwards clearly contrasts Vice President Dick Cheney, who suddenly looks dour... even grouchy.
The result: Some Republicans have begun calling for Cheney’s ouster, or at least, a lateral move.
Washington is wildly abuzz discussing the possibility: the most prevalent rumor is that Cheney could be nudged over to head the CIA, and the highly respected Senator John McCain of Arizona would be brought in to run on a Bush/McCain ticket.
Just to add fuel to the fire, last week Cheney fired his personal doctor. The former physician, Dr. Gary Malakoff, announced four years ago that Cheney, 63, was fit to serve, despite four heart attacks. But then a sophisticated pacemaker-defibrillator was placed in his chest in June 2001. Rumor has it that Cheney’s new physician could conveniently tell Cheney that, due to his heart problems, he is no longer fit to run with President Bush.
Cheney was unable to put an end to the rumors when questioned about the idea during a C-Span interview Wednesday. Asked if he could think of any circumstances that might cause him to step aside, Cheney replied: “Well, no, I can’t. If I thought that were appropriate, I certainly would.”
Many politicians, both Democratic and Republican, see Cheney as a political liability on the GOP ticket. Heart attacks aside, he is facing a US Treasury investigation into the oil company Halliburton, at the time he was at the helm; there has been criticism of his handling the Sept. 11terror attacks; plus unrelenting questions regarding his powerful role in promoting the war in Iraq and insisting that Saddam Hussein had unconventional weapons.
Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato of New York is the only prominent Republican to date who has publicly suggested the president should dump Cheney. His suggestion was, shall we say, not warmly received.
McCain, said D’Amato, is “a genuine American hero who would also help bridge the political divide in our nation and assure the president’s re-election by a wide margin.”
McCain, meanwhile, is remaining faithful to the party: Asked on CBS’ “Face the Nation” whether he might consider replacing Vice President Dick Cheney on a GOP ticket, McCain said, “I would not, and I believe that Vice President Cheney has done a fine job.
“But, more importantly, the relationship between President Bush and Vice President Cheney is excellent, and I think they work very well together,” said McCain, who has remained critical of the president’s policy in Iraq.
As for the president, he responded tersely when questioned on how Edwards stacked up against Cheney. “Dick Cheney can be president. Next?” Bush snapped. The White House insists Bush is sticking with Cheney.
Cheney remains a champion of the Republicans’ conservative base, and anything seen as a move to displace him could anger the political right that Bush has worked so hard to win.
“One of Bush’s strengths is that he sticks to his guns. He would appear both weak and political to dump Dick Cheney, and he’s not going to do that,” Charles Black, a Republican adviser who is close to the White House, recently told a reporter. “It’s not the way he operates. Plus, Cheney is very important to the president and to the government, regardless of politics.”
Many see Cheney as more than a vice president. He has been refered to by some as the “grey eminence” of the Bush presidency, serving almost as a virtual prime minister.
Jokes abounded early on about how Cheney, not Bush, was pulling the strings of power, and Bush is said to listen to Cheney’s counsel.
Bush depends on Cheney: he would only agree to testify to the Sept. 11 commission earlier this year if Cheney could be by his side.
An Associated Press-Ipsos poll from early June found that 51 percent of Americans want to keep Cheney on the ticket and 43 percent want Bush to pick someone else; whether this approval can remain above the 50 percent mark will be closely watched in weeks to come.
