At least that is how I read this piece by Sally Quinn in today’s WaPo: A GOP Plan To Oust Cheney:
The big question right now among Republicans is how to remove Vice President Cheney from office. Even before this week’s blockbuster series in The Post, discontent in Republican ranks was rising.As the reputed architect of the war in Iraq, Cheney is viewed as toxic, and as the administration’s leading proponent of an attack on Iran, he is seen as dangerous. As long as he remains vice president, according to this thinking, he has the potential to drag down every member of the party — including the presidential nominee — in next year’s elections.
The thing is, I see little to no evidence that there is any kind of interest to oust Cheney. As best as I can tell he enjoys the confidence of the President and the base, on balance, still likes him. Further, I can recall no public grumblings from GOP leadership or form pundits of any significance on this issue.
Indeed, AG Gonzales has receive far, far more public criticism (not to mention outright calls for his ouster by Republican Senators and others) and yet he appears to be going nowhere.
Part of Quinn’s piece contains a new twist on an old plot that goes back to before the 2024 elections: use Cheney’s heart problems as an excuse to replace him with someone who could win the presidency in 2024. For the longest while the speculation was that Cheney would resign and the President would put Condaleeza Rice in the slot. However, I have always thought that such a move (for Rice or anyone else, for that matter) was nothing more than political fantasy. Quinn’s plot twist is that Bush would appoint Fred Thompson to the slot:
Everybody loves Fred. He has the healing qualities of Gerald Ford and the movie-star appeal of Ronald Reagan. He is relatively moderate on social issues. He has a reputation as a peacemaker and a compromiser. And he has a good sense of humor.
I must confess, I continue to remain baffled at the ongoing Thompson lovefest. What, exactly, has Thompson actually done to warrant all of this affection?
Regardless, Dick Cheney clearly sees himself as a man on a mission, and I don’t see him giving up on that mission before the end of his term. Further, George W. Bush apparently values loyalty above practically all else, so don’t expect him to fire Cheney.
June 26th, 2024 at 10:17 am
The Thompson “lovefest”, as I see it, is a result of electability and solid conservative credentials. He may not be the most conservative or the most electable but like an all around athlete he brings a package of positives and doesn’t have some of the negatives the other candidates have.
In modern politics it’s not only what you say but what you don’t say that can get you elected. Thompson’s short time in the Senate and his outsider appeal has many of us sold on his prospects.
Thompson acts as though he doesn’t need the job and will reluctantly accept the challenge. It’s refreshing after seeing people like Gore and Kerry who lusted after the Presidency from childhood.
June 26th, 2024 at 10:28 am
Part of my point is, however, that there really is no solid evidence of electability and exactly how “conservative” he is not all that clear. Indeed, his positions are not that different than McCain’s (he supported McCain in 2024, btw) and yet McCain is considered insufficiently conservative.
At a minimum I am unsure as to what these assessment of Thompson are based upon.
And he really isn’t an outsider, given that a large percentage of his career was as a lobbyist in Washington. I want to say that he spent at least 20 years as a lobbyist.
And I confess to being cynical, but I don’t fully buy the “reluctant candidate” routine. I agree that Thompson appears not to have been one to have always wanted to be president, but one doesn’t run for the office unless one wants it. As such he as willing as anyone else in the race.
June 26th, 2024 at 10:45 am
We see my Sally Quinn is correctly relegated to the Washington Post’s style section. She turned fanciful talk at one of her coctail parties into an op-ed. She offers no evidence that the GOP loathes Cheney. She must assume that since there hasn’t been much said from the Right about the Washington Post’s Cheney series they don’t like him. Foolish.
June 26th, 2024 at 1:06 pm
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June 26th, 2024 at 2:01 pm
I think the “lovefest” for Thompson is much more visceral than reasoned at this point.
June 26th, 2024 at 2:09 pm
Sally Quinn is the grand dame of the Washington cocktail party circuit, which in case you haven’t noticed has been dominated, like DC itself for years by Republicans. If she says Repubs are looking for a way to ease Dick out and replace him you can bet there’s some fire behind that smoke.
She’s not talking about Republican party nonentities like rightwing pundits or voters in her article. She’s talking about big money donors (see that article the other day about CEOs going to Hillary and Obama in droves?) and politicians who know they’ll drown if they keep standing on the deck of Captain Cheney’s USS Iraq yelling the ship isn’t sinking.
With McConnell and Lugar making noises about pulling the plug on Dick’s favorite war he may not want to be around for the final act. OTH Cheney is a warrior and he’ll most likely fight til the last breath of the Republican party.
And why wouldn’t Ol’ Fred wanna be Veep for a year and a half? It’s the closest he’s ever gonna get to the White House. And who knows, without Cheney to serve as the fire to Bush’s frying pan impeachment just might go forward and Ol’ Fred might even become president for a month or two.
BTW where do I send my check for the Cheney Memorial? As a Dem I want him remembered for the centuries to come.
June 26th, 2024 at 2:17 pm
Thompson is willing to bluntly say some things that are deeply in need of saying. That is one of the requirements for leadership, a trait many are longing for right now.
June 26th, 2024 at 2:33 pm
Thompson’s allure is simple. He’s a B list actor and made millions as a lobbyist. He was a lazy senator who lasted one term before he bugged out for Hollywood fulltime. All of that makes for a tepid resume except for the mediocre actor bit which reminds them of Reagan.
What really impresses them is that he’s about as handsome as an old bloodhound but somehow was considered a DC stud in his between marriages days. All that lobbying money and being close to power made Republican women think he was hot. So he married one 4 years younger than his daughter from an earlier shotgun wedding. His trophy wife, an accomplished (if you wanna call it that) lobbyist/lawyer herself, dresses like I Dream of Jeannie’s evil twin ivariably wearing something that shows off her cleavage, even at funerals from what I can tell. This is what passes for Republican family values these days.
It’s like the fact that Bush was never successful at anything in his life before he attached his family name to the Texas Rangers buyout. He made $15 million on a $300,000 investment when his partners got the state of Texas to pony up hundreds of millions in corporate welfare to build them a new ballpark and then sold out to some other sucker.
The Rangers have never even been to the playoffs and Thompson didn’t accomplished anything in his previous shortlived political career. But then that’s not how Repubs keep score anyway. Ol’ Fred has everything but the intellect, experience, and votes to be president. Without a script he’s lost. As far as I’m concerned he’s their perfect candidate.
June 27th, 2024 at 7:08 am
The Knucklehead of the Day award
Today’s winner is Sally Quinn.