Dick Cheney must go.

[qwerty]

I greatly admire Vice-President Cheney. He is a great man and a dedicated public servant. However, with his popularity as low as it is, he is now more of a liability then anything else.

President Bush needs to drop Cheney and pick a new running mate. I think that Cheney would make an excellent Secy. of State when Colin Powell steps down in 2005.

[agcatter]

Agreed.  The Dems have done an excellent hatchet job on Cheney.  He's now a drag.  If Bush picked Condi Rice this election would be over.  Bush seems to not want to take the easy path.  He seems determined do things the hard way.  Why, I don't know.  Loyalty I guess.

What good is loyalty if you are going to spend the next 4 yrs in Crawford, Tx?

Rice would raise his percentage of the black vote from 6 to 10.  He'd raise his % of female votes by 3 or 4%.  That would be enough.

I don't get it.

[MODU]

I'm torn on this topic.  Cheney, minus the negative media spin that has been dogging him since day one, has done a good job as VP.  However, does his performance as VP outweigh all the nagative harassment he has received?  I would like to think so, but there is half of the nation that doesn't share my opinion.

I was listening to a debate on tv the other night as to the comment Bush made about why Cheney was better than Edwards:  "Because he could be President."  This is quite true.  However, would Cheney be a viable 2008 Presidential candidate (or will he even live long enough to see 2008)?  Don't know.  If the VP position is suppose to be a breeding ground for the big seat (which history has shown it isn't), who would we pick?  I personally like Frist and Tom Davis (personal bias).

But in the end, Cheney is the VP candidate.  If Bush had wanted to replace Cheney, he would have stated so at the beginning of the year instead of now.

[agcatter]

Don't get me wrong.  I like Cheney also. I think he's done a good job and I respect him.   However, my admiration for Cheney is overridden by two words - President Kerry.

Condi wins this thing for Bush.  I have no doubt.  The liberal media would have a very tough time attacking a black woman.  I don't even think they could pull that off without there being a backlash.

Alas, I think you are right.  It would have already been done by now.  Pitty.

[MODU]

hehehe . . . you can file this under "I didn't know that."  Condi use to be on the board of directors for Cheveron.  They use to have a tanker named after her, but when she quit the board to work for the current administration, Cheveron changed the name of the ship (now the Altair Voyager) to disassociate themselves with what appeared to be a "oil monopoly" in the White House.

If the Dems were going to attack Condi as a VP, that is probably where they would have gone . . . claiming Bush took one oil rep for another (of course, Condi was never really a part of the oil company itself, just a board member).

[agcatter]

Good luck to the Dems trying to make that flimsy connection.  

Her credentials are impressive to say the least.  They wouldn't lay a glove on her.  She is Kerry's worst nightmare.

[NHPolitico]

I thought the recent poll was interesting that had Bush-McCain winning by only a point or two, but Bush-Powell winning handily. I was surprised that the Bush-McCain ticket did so poorly.

[agcatter]

Powell would be my first choice.  He just wouldn't do it.

[ijohn57s]

I disagree. Cheney's the right man for the job at the right time.

[agcatter]

I don't dispute that.  However, we have to win this thing.  A Kerry presidency would be a disaster for this nation.

[ijohn57s]

I don't dispute that.  However, we have to win this thing.  A Kerry presidency would be a disaster for this nation.

That's very true. But, I don't think the VP makes that much difference in the end. I know they often give a bump in the polls (unlike Edwards ), but people vote for the President not the Vice-President.

[agcatter]

In the end you may be right.  Certainly, the last VP to make a difference was LBJ in 1960.

However, this is close and I'm reluctant to take a chance.  With the liberal media providing a steady drumbeat of anti Cheney stories I'm worried.  It won't have any effect on your state or mine.  Ohio could be a different story and that would be the straw that breaks the camal's back in a close election.  I don't want to risk that.

[English]

A Bush Guiliani ticket would be much more damaging to Kerry. Guiliani may temporarily stem the Dem trend of the Northeast.

[Mort from NewYawk]

Switching VP candidates is a HUGE risk for the Republicans.

It will convey lack of confidence on Bush's part and detract from the perception that he is steadfast and loyal, traits that voters like about him and that contrast with their perception of Kerry.

The media will spend an enormous amount of time on the subject. Even if Cheney was found to be medically unfit for another four years, there will be endless speculation and investigation into the process of coming to a decision.

The real Cheney-haters are also the Bush-haters - they're not going to change their mind. Furthermore, as Cheney is seen and heard more, reasonable people who are swing voters will remember that he's not so bad - rather soft-spoken, really, and smart.

The switch would detract from the Bush campaign more than it would add.

[Rococo4]

Switching VP candidates is a HUGE risk for the Republicans.

It will convey lack of confidence on Bush's part and detract from the perception that he is steadfast and loyal, traits that voters like about him and that contrast with their perception of Kerry.

The media will spend an enormous amount of time on the subject. Even if Cheney was found to be medically unfit for another four years, there will be endless speculation and investigation into the process of coming to a decision.

The real Cheney-haters are also the Bush-haters - they're not going to change their mind. Furthermore, as Cheney is seen and heard more, reasonable people who are swing voters will remember that he's not so bad - rather soft-spoken, really, and smart.

The switch would detract from the Bush campaign more than it would add.

I agree wholeheartedly..........Cheney is a drag, but you cant dump him, becuase it screams of desparation.  We have got to ride it out now.

[agcatter]

No doubt the media would spin it that way non stop.  A downside for sure.

[khirkhib]

As much as I would really like to see a woman or a minority as the vice-president I don't really see it happening.  I mean if Edwards gets attacked for not having enough experience what are they going to say about her - she's never held an elected position.  It i  And though it would help pick up centrists, women and black voters it woudn't please some of the base.  Powell however might be qualified and pick up a lot but we all know that Powell isn't even going to be in the next administation, I wish most voters knew that.

[© tweed]

A recent poll shows 53% of Americans want to keep Cheney as Bush's VP, including 73% of Republicans.

[agcatter]

I wasn't aware of that poll.

[© tweed]

I wasn't aware of that poll.

Time Poll

[ThePrezMex]

I don't know anyone who dosen't think highly of Colin Powell.

Clearly Cheney and Rumsfeld doesn't think highly of Powell.

[Shira]

And don't forget:
Cheney is an "Oil Guy" and the initiator of the war in Iraq.
Why do you think he so badly wanted this war? Why was he so attracted to Iraq?

[ATFFL]

And don't forget:
Cheney is an "Oil Guy" and the initiator of the war in Iraq.
Why do you think he so badly wanted this war? Why was he so attracted to Iraq?

He has a Burqa fetish?

[MODU]

And don't forget:
Cheney is an "Oil Guy" and the initiator of the war in Iraq.
Why do you think he so badly wanted this war? Why was he so attracted to Iraq?

Propaganda alert.  

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I just wish that Bush would get rid of Rumsfeld.  Even if one agrees with the neo-con foreign policy, he fails to understand that that foreign policy requires more troops. It does the US no good to win a war if we don't have the troops in place to keep the peace afterwards.  Rumsfeld has botched the implementation of the policy he advocates and continues to either believe or pretend to believe that he did a good job and that we don't need more troops if we follow the policies that Rummy favors.