::Sunday, May 22, 2005::
LUCK IN CHENEY-S
.. Bob Woodward, the distinguished journalist who broke out the Watergate scandal sending Nixon out of office boldly predicts in the Chris Matthews show that Vice Pres. Dick Cheney will be nominated by the Republican party for the 2008 presidential elections. Woodward reasons that the Republican elite has a fondness for nominating the old warhorses - Nixon, Reagan even Bush Sr. and a propensity for choosing vice presidents. Cheney as a darkhorse in 2008 will certainly elate the neocons who have dominated Bush 43's foreign policy and will also be welcome news to the Republican right. I don't think this comes even close to George W. Bush's view of his presidential legacy and his plans to make sure he will be remembered correctly. No matter how he may look like he is an honorary neocon, Bush is a pragmatist in the league of his recent buddy Bill Clinton. Evidence is clear that the president is distancing himself away from the discredited neocons whose strategy in Iraq has been the wrong prescription judging from way the State Dept. has wrested control of American policy in Iraq this soon. The Bush clan can deny it to death but they are certainly laying the groundwork for Jeb Bush's plan as president for 2012 or even closer - as vice presidential candidate in 2008.
Where does the veep stand in all this? It would be a mistake to assume Cheney has put all these grand plans close to his heart. I can just imagine how the vice president grits his teeth everyday with the political charade now going on in Bush's second term making him an early lameduck president. I'm guessing the Bushes will let the whole thing play out and hope for a Bill Frist - Condoleeza Rice showdown. Either candidate needs the Bush's blessing to win, hence enter Jeb as VP. Either way the wind blows works for them. It remains to be seen where Karl Rove positions himself into and whether he has the same loyalty to Jeb the way he has with his pal Dubya. Moderate republicans and independents can forget a McCain or Guiliani presidency. Both candidates will never pass the religious test of the Republican right. A breakthrough moment in American politics would be if both men can broker a deal between both of them to run a third way - both as independent pres. and vice-pres. candidates. The race is on!
Where does the veep stand in all this? It would be a mistake to assume Cheney has put all these grand plans close to his heart. I can just imagine how the vice president grits his teeth everyday with the political charade now going on in Bush's second term making him an early lameduck president. I'm guessing the Bushes will let the whole thing play out and hope for a Bill Frist - Condoleeza Rice showdown. Either candidate needs the Bush's blessing to win, hence enter Jeb as VP. Either way the wind blows works for them. It remains to be seen where Karl Rove positions himself into and whether he has the same loyalty to Jeb the way he has with his pal Dubya. Moderate republicans and independents can forget a McCain or Guiliani presidency. Both candidates will never pass the religious test of the Republican right. A breakthrough moment in American politics would be if both men can broker a deal between both of them to run a third way - both as independent pres. and vice-pres. candidates. The race is on!
